UCSB    LIBRARY 


PROCEEDINGS  of  the 
TWELFTH  CONFER- 
ENCE FOR  EDUCA- 
TION in  the  SOUTH 


ATLANTA,  GEORGIA 
APRIL  14-16,  1909 


Published  by  the  EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE  of  the  CONFERENCE 
WICKLIFFE  ROSE.    Chairman       ::       NASHVILLE,  TENNESSEE 


Press  of 

Foster,  Webb  &  Parkes 
Nashville,  Tenn. 


THE  CONFERENCE  FOR  EDUCATION  IN  THE  SOUTH, 
ATLANTA,  GEORGIA,  APRIL  14,  15,  16,  1909. 


WEDNESDAY,  APRIL  14,  10  A.M. 

CONFERENCE    OF     STATE    SUPERINTENDENTS 

J.  Y.  Joyner,  Presiding. 

CONFERENCE    OF    SUPERVISORS    OK    THE    WOMEN'S    SCHOOL    IMPROVEMENT 
WORK —  P.  P.  Claxton,  Presiding. 


WEDNESDAY,  APRIL  14,  3  P.M. 
BUSINESS  MEETING,  AUDITORIUM  PIEDMONT  HOTEL. 


WEDNESDAY,  APRIL  14,  8  P.M. 
(The  Formal  Opening  of  the  Conference.) 

ADDRESS  OF  WELCOME — 

Hon.  Hoke  Smith,  Governor  of  Georgia. 
PRESIDENT'S  ADDRESS — 

R.  C.  Ogden,  New  York. 

ADDRESS — "THE  AMERICAN  SPIRIT  IN  EDUCATION" — 

Dr.    S.    C.   Mitchell,    President    University   of    South    Carolina, 
Columbia,  S.  C. 


THURSDAY,  APRIL  15,  10  a.m. 

STATE   SUPERINTENDENTS'   MEETING — 

Supt.  Joyner,  Raleigh,  N.  C.,  Presiding. 

Educational  Progress  of  the  Year  in  the  Southern  States— 

Jere  M.  Pound,  State  School  Commissioner,  Atlanta,  Ga. 

Agricultural  and  Industrial  Educational  Movement  in  the  South — 
G.  B.  Cook,  State  Superintendent  of  Education,  Arkansas. 

ADDRESS — "THE  NATIONAL  PROGRAM  IN  EDUCATION" — 

Elmer   Ellsworth    Brown,    U.    S.    Commissioner    of    Education, 
Washington,  D.  C. 

THE  EDUCATIONAL  CAMPAIGN    IN   TEXAS — 

Clarence  Ousley,  Editor  of  Fort  Worth  Record,  Fort  Worth,  Texas. 


4  PROGRAM 

THURSDAY,  APRIL  15,  3:15  P.M. 

MEETING  OF  SOUTHERN  ASSOCIATION  OF  COLLEGE  WOMEN.  AUDITORIUM — 

Mrs.  Emma  Garrett  Boyd,  Presiding. 

CONFERENCE   OF   CAMPAIGN    MANAGERS   OF    SOUTHERN    STATES.    PIEDMONT 
HOTEL —  P.  P.  Claxton,  Presiding. 

(Adjourned  Meetings  of  Other  Special  Conferences.) 


THURSDAY,   APRIL   15,    8    P.M. 
EDUCATION  AND  RURAL  NEEDS — 

A.  School  for  Groivn-Ups — 

P.  P.  Claxton,  University  of  Tennessee,  Knoxville,  Tenn. 

The  Country  Road  and  the  Country  School — 

C.  S.  Barrett,  President  Farmers'  Union,  Union  City,  Ga. 

ECONOMIC  ORGANIZATION  OF  RURAL  LIFE — 

Dr.  John  Lee  Coulter,  University  of  Minnesota,  Minneapolis, 
Minn. 

How  THE  NATIONAL  GOVERNMENT  MAY  COOPERATE  WITH  THE  STATES  IN- 
BETTERING  RURAL  CONDITIONS — 

Gifford  Pinchot,  The  Forest  Service,'  Washington,  D.  C. 


FRIDAY,  APRIL  16,   10  A.M. 

WOMEN'S  WORK  FOR  THE  RURAL  SCHOOLS — 

Mrs.  B.  B.  Munford,  Richmond,  Va. 

THE  WOMAN'S  CLUB  AS  A  FACTOR  IN  EDUCATION — 

Dr.  Lillian  W.  Johnson,  Memphis,  Tenn. 

EDUCATIONAL  WORK  OF  THE  CLUB  WOMEN  OK  GEORGIA — 

Mrs.   Robert   Emory    Park,    Chairman    Education    Department 
Georgia  Federation,  Atlanta,  Ga. 

HIGHER  EDUCATION  OF  WOMEN — 

Dean   Lida   Shaw   King,   Woman's   College,   Brown   University, 
Providence,  R.  I. 

PUBLIC  TAXATION  AND  THE  NEGRO  SCHOOL — 

Supt.  C.  L.  Coon.  Wilson,  X.  C. 

EDUCATION  AND  ECONOMIC  DEVELOPMENT — 

Dr.  A.  Caswell  Ellis.  University  of  Texas,  Austin,  Texas. 


PROGRAM  5 

FRIDAY,  APRIL  16,  3:15  P.M. 

To  be  devoted  to  Special  State  Conferences.     The  State  Conference  for 
Georgia  at  Auditorium.     Other  Conferences  at  Boys'  High  School. 


FRIDAY,   APRIL   16,    8   P.M. 

ADDRESS — "EDUCATIONAL  ORGANIZATION" — 

E.  A.  Alderman,  President  University  of  Virginia,  Charlottes- 
ville,  Va. 

THE  STATE  UNIVERSITY  ix  THE  SERVICE  OF  THE  STATE — 

Charles  R.  Van  Hise,  President  University  of  Wisconsin,  Madi- 
son, Wis. 


CONTENTS. 
CONTENTS. 


THE  ATLANTA  CONFERENCE. 


OPENING  SESSION,  WEDNESDAY  EVENING. 


Page 

OPENING  THE  CONFERENCE,  by  J.  K.  Orr 11 

ADDRESS  OF  WELCOME,  by  Governor  Hoke  Smith 11 

PRESIDENT'S  ADDRESS,  by  Robert  C.  Ogden 17 

THE  NATIONAL  SPIRIT  IN  EDUCATION,  by  S.  C.  Mitchell 29 


THURSDAY  MORNING  SESSION. 

Superintendents'  Meeting. 

INTRODUCTORY  REMARKS,  by  J.  Y.  Joyner 35 

EDUCATIONAL  PROGRESS  OF  THE  YEAR  IN  THE  SOUTHERN 

STATES,  by  Jere  M.  Pound 36 

THE  AGRICULTURAL  AND  INDUSTRIAL  EDUCATIONAL  MOVEMENT 

IN  THE  SOUTH,  by  George  B.  Cook 69 

THE  NATIONAL  PROGRAM  IN  EDUCATION,  by  Elmer  Ellsworth 

Brown   .  .  84 


THURSDAY  EVENING  SESSION. 

INTRODUCTORY  REMARKS,  by  Robert  C.  Ogden 98 

THE  EDUCATIONAL  CAMPAIGN  IN  TEXAS,  by  Clarence  Ousley. .  98 

ECONOMIC  ORGANIZATION  OF  RURAL  LIFE,  by  John  Lee  Coul- 
ter  ...112 

NATIONAL  PROGRESS  IN  COUNTRY  LIFE,  by  Gifford  Pinchot. .  .129 


8  CONFERENCE  FOR  EDUCATION. 

FRIDAY  MORNING  SESSION. 

Wunn  ii  \  M«  ting. 

Page 

ELECTION  OF  OFFICERS 132 

THE  SOUTHERN  WOMAN'S  WORK  FOR  EDUCATION,  by  Mrs.  B. 

B.  Mimford 132 

THE  WOMAN'S  CLUB  AS  A  FACTOR  IN  EDUCATION,  by  Lilian 

\V.  Johnson 139 

THE  EDUCATIONAL  WORK  OF  THE  CLUB  WOMEN  OF  GEORGIA, 

by  Mrs.  Robert  Emory  Park 144 

THE  HIGHER  EDUCATION  OF  WOMEN,  by  Lida  Shaw  King ....  149 
PUBLIC  TAXATION  AND  NEGRO  SCHOOLS..  ..157 


FRIDAY  EVENING  SESSION. 
Closing  Meeting. 

THE  MAYOR  OF  ATLANTA '. 168 

REMARKS  ACCEPTING  GAVEL,  by  R.  C.  Ogden 169 

RESOLUTIONS  169 

EDUCATION  AND  ECONOMIC  DEVELOPMENT,  by  A.  Caswell 

Ellis  171 

THE  STATE  UNIVERSITY  IN  THE  SERVICE  OF  THE  STATE,  by 

Charles  R.  Van  Hise 186 

A  SCHOOL  FOR  GROWN-UPS,  by  P.  P.  Claxton 198 


SPECIAL  CONFERENCES  AND 
INCIDENTAL  EVENTS. 

CONFERENCE  OF  STATE  SUPERINTENDENTS 204 

CONFERENCE  OF  SUPERVISORS  OF  SCHOOL  IMPROVEMENT 
WORK  ..204 


CONTENTS.  9 

Page 

CONFERENCE  OF  CAMPAIGN  MANAGERS 204 

SOUTHERN  ASSOCIATION  OF  COLLEGE  WOMEN 2<>5 

STATE  MEETINGS 205 

RECEPTION  OF  AGNES  SCOTT 206 

LUNCHEON  TO  SOUTHERN  ASSOCIATION  OF  COLLEGE  WOMEN  . .  206 

RECEPTION  AT  PIEDMONT  DRIVING  CLUB 20*6 

VISIT  TO  THE  BERRY  SCHOOL  . .  . .  207 


EDUCATIONAL  TOUR  OF  STATE  SUPERIN- 
TENDENTS OF  SOUTHERN  STATES. 

ITINERARY    208 

How  THE  SOUTHERN  EDUCATION  BOARD  HAS  HELPED  AND  CAN 

HELP  THE  SOUTH,  by  J.  Y.  Joyner 209 

LETTER  TO  SOUTHERN  EDUCATION  BOARD,  by  Robt.  C.  Ogden.213 
RESOLUTIONS    .  ..217 


TREASURER'S  REPORT  218 

LIST  OF  OFFICERS 219 

ASSOCIATION  OF  SOUTHERN  STATE  SUPERINTENDENTS 219 

SOUTHERN  EDUCATION  BOARD 220 

ATLANTA  COMMITTEES 22<  > 

REGISTERED  MEMBERS  .  ..221 


Twelfth  Conference  for  Education 
in  the  South. 


ATLANTA  MEETING,  1909. 


OPENING  SESSION, 
WEDNESDAY  EVENING,  APRIL  14. 


The  Twelfth  Conference  for  Education  in  the  South  met  in 
the  Auditorium  at  Atlanta,  Ga.,  on  Wednesday  evening,  April 
14,  1909,  at  8  p.  m.  The  Conference  was  called  to  order  by  Mr. 
J.  K.  Orr,  Chairman  of  the  local  committee,  who  spoke  as  fol- 
lows: 

"The  time  having  arrived  for  opening  the  Twelfth  Confer- 
ence for  Education  in  the  South  it  becomes  my  duty  as  Chair- 
man of  the  local  committee  to  call  this  meeting  to  order.  In 
doing  so  I  have  the  pleasure  of  introducing  the  Honorable  Hoke 
Smith,  Governor  of  Georgia,  who  will  make  the  first  address." 

GOVERNOR  SMITH. 

Mr.  President,  Ladies  and  Gentl<  nx  n  : 

In  behalf  of  the  entire  State  I  extend  to  you  a  sincere  wel- 
come and  thank  you  for  holding  here  this  Conference  for  edu- 
cation. While  I  know  that  the  majority  of  your  Board  of  Con- 
trol are  Southern  men,  we  may  well  find  reason  for  congratula- 
tion that  you  come  from  all  parts  of  the  country  and  that  your 
program  contains  the  names  of  great  thinkers  from  many  sec- 
tions. 


12  CONFERENCE  FOR  EDUCATION. 

\ 
Ours  is  a  land  of  vast  area  and  diversified  interests.     It  is 

well  to  bring  together  men  and  women  from  localities  far  apart 
that  we  may  personally  know  each  other,  and  better  under- 
stand our  common  wants  and  common  destiny.  As  we  know 
each  other  better  sectional  differences  give  way  to  patriotic  de- 
votion to  our  country  and  an  increased  desire  to  serve  the  hu- 
man race. 

It  would  be  strange  if  in  such  a  gathering  as  this  there  were 
not  found  diverging  views.  None  the  less  I  welcome  you  to 
Georgia.  The  man  who  has  faith  in  his  own  views  should  be 
pleased  to  meet  the  man  so  unfortunate  as  not  to  agree  with  him. 

The  great  educators  here  gathered  are  all  leading  us  in  the 
same  direction  even  though  they  point  the  way  by  different 
roads.  "We  will  grow  in  knowledge  from  free  discussion. 

I  deem  it  eminently  proper  that  a  successful  business  man 
should  preside  over  an  educational  conference.  There  was  a 
time  when  the  professional  educators,  absorbed  in  their  books, 
were  too  far  away  from  the  real  problems  of  life,  but  that  time 
is  rapidly  passing,  and  with  the  true  educator  it  is  already  a 
thing  of  the  past.  ' 

Education  should  fit  the  young  and  the  old  for  the  duties 
of  life,  to  enjoy  its  pleasures  and  to  be  prepared  for  its  respon- 
sibilities. It  should  begin  with  the  cradle  and  continue  to  old 
age.  No  system  of  education  is  sufficient  which  seeks  alone  to 
impart  knowledge  from  books.  It  must  build  character  and 
force  and  must  prepare  the  child  to  be  an  actor  in  life's  strug- 
gles. It  should  as  far  as  possible  develop  the  child  along  lines 
which  the  child  will  probably  follow  in  after  years. 

The  South  offers  great  opportunities  for  those  prepared  to 
use  them.  Our  lands  are  capable  of  bringing  profitable  return 
from  the  most  varied  lines  of  agriculture.  Our  mineral  resources 
are  vast.  Their  development  has  only  begun.  The  water  pow- 
ers of  the  Southern  Appalachian  range  could  operate  all  the 
factories  of  Europe.  With  scarce  a  limit  in  our  capacity  to 
produce  food  supplies,  we  have  a  monopoly  in  the  production 
of  cotton,  the  raw  material  which  will  clothe  the  world. 

The  South  must  be  prepared  to  take  full  part  in  the  nation's 


GOVERNOR  SMITH.  13 

growth.  Thus  alone  will  our  own  prosperity  be  insured,  and 
thus  alone  can  our  responsibilities  be  met.  I  welcome  every 
contribution  which  your  views  may  make  toward  the  prepara- 
tion of  our  people  for  the  tasks  before  them.  I  deem  it  most 
desirable  that  business  men  and  teachers  should  confer.  From 
their  conferences  we  may  expect  policies  wisely  joining  the  ideal 
and  the  practical. 

The  presence  of  a  great  number  of  negroes  in  the  South 
creates  a  problem  which  must  be  understood.  I  do  not  believe 
that  those  who  dwell  upon  the  work  of  negro  institutions  into 
which  a  few  hundred  of  the  race  enter  comprehend  the  ques- 
tion. The  real  negro  educational  problem  is  found  in  the  six 
millions  of  negroes  who  do  not  enter  these  institutions  and  who 
are  utterly  unsuited  for  the  opportunities  which  they  offer.  I 
refer  to  the  great  body  of  the  negroes  engaged  in  the  simplest 
lines  of  manual  labor. 

These  people  are  descended  from  ancestors  who  a  little  more 
than  a  century  ago  were  savages  in  Africa.  For  a  while  they 
were  compelled  to  labor.  Industry  was  forced  upon  them. 
Since  this  condition  ceased,  freed  from  restraint,  they  are  prone 
to  idleness  and  to  carelessness,  even  when  at  work. 

The  first  step  in  the  education  of  this  great  body  of  the  negro 
race  is  to  inspire  a  desire  to  do  better  the  labor  they  are  called 
upon  to  perform,  and  to  rid  them  of  a  willingness  to  live  poorly 
if  perchance  a  meager  support  can  be  made  with  half  time  labor. 
The  negro  engaged  in  the  simplest  manual  labor  will  find  his 
first  inspiration  from  being  taught  the  pleasure  of  doing  that 
labor  with  artistic  skill.  The  negro  who  uses  the  hoe  or  uses 
the  plow  will  be  lifted  to  a  higher  standard  when  he  can  be 
given  the  inspiration  which  will  come  from  efficient  labor  and 
increased  industry. 

Mere  instruction  from  books  will  accomplish  almost  nothing 
for  him.  He  must  Jean  upon  the  direction  of  the  white  man 
and  grow  by  imitation.  The  best  educator  he  can  have  will  be 
found  in  the  white  man  who  will  control  and  direct  him  and 
furnish  him  an  example  of  the  benefits  brought  from  intelligent 
industry. 


14  CONFERENCE  FOR   EDUCATION. 

Experience  shows  that  negroes  improve  most  rapidly  where 
there  are  fewest  negroes  in  proportion  to  the  number  of  whites. 
The  best  friend  of  the  negro  should  seek  his  distribution  to  all 
sections.  This  can  be  accomplished  by  more  white  settlers  coin- 
ing South  and  more  negroes  going  North,  East  and  West. 

I  am  gratified  to  tell  you  that  progress  is  being  made  in  the 
educational  work  of  this  State.  The  amounts  being  paid  an- 
nually for  education  from  taxation  are  rapidly  increasing. 
Nearly  every  municipality  with  as  many  as  five  hundred  popu- 
lation has  an  organized  public  school  system  continuing  from 
eight  to  nine  months  annually.  The  appropriation  from  the 
State  treasury  supports  the  rural  schools  for  nearly  six  months 
in  the  year,  and  local  taxation  supplements  this  appropriation 
in  many  school  districts,  extending  the  school  terms  to  from 
eight  to  nine  months. 

There  are  two  conditions  connected  with  our  educational 
progress  to  which  I  would  especially  call  attention.  "With  the 
increase  of  manufacturing  enterprises,  it  is  important  that  we 
should  guard  against  placing  children  within  factory  walls, 
and  we  must  see  to  it  that  the  children  of  the  factory  section 
are  not  only  given  a  chance  to  live  and  to  grow  in  the  open  air, 
but  we  must  insist  that  they  be  trained  in. school  for  the  respon- 
sibilities of  life.  Our  manufacturing  growth  would  be  a  curse 
if  with  it  we  are  to  permit  the  presence  of  a  population  worn 
out  by  drudgery  in  childhood,  and  deprived  of  proper  mental, 
spiritual  and  physical  growth. 

The  best  opportunity  for  special  effort  upon  educational 
lines  which  our  section  presents  is  in  the  rural  schools.  The 
power  of  our  nation,  the  preservation  of  our  free  institutions, 
must  depend  largely  upon  the  rural  population.  Here  is  the 
opportunity  for  independence  even  for  those  with  limited  re- 
sources. Here  is  the  opportunity  for  the  growth  of  a  citizenry 
not  so  absorbed  in  the  accumulation  of  wealth  as  to  lose  patri- 
otic impulses,  and  not  so  constrained  by  the  danger  of  falling 
into  the  class  of  the  unemployed  as  to  be  subservient  to  the  dic- 
tation of  employees. 


GOVERNOR  SMITH.  15 

The  population  of  our  entire  country  could  earn  a  comfort- 
able support  upon  the  farm  lands  of  the  South. 

That  line  of  educational  work  which  turns  the  thought  of 
the  citizen  to  the  farm,  and  helps  make  comfortable  and  enjoy- 
able farm  life,  is  the  surest  of  fruitful  returns.  We  are  seeking 
to  do  all  possible  in  this  State  to  aid  in  this  direction.  Our 
State  College  of  Agriculture  is  devoted  to  investigation  and  to 
instruction  upon  advanced  thought  and  scientific  practice  ap- 
plied to  the  farm.  We  have  eleven  district  agricultural  schools 
in  which  the  boys  and  girls  are  not  alone  taught  from  books,  but 
in  which  the  great  object  is  to  give  their  minds  and  hearts  the 
proper  desire  for  broader  observation  and  knowledge  of  those 
things  which  appertain  to  farm  life  and  farm  endeavor,  while 
they  are  also  taught  how  with  their  hands  to  best  execute  what 
they  learn. 

I  welcome  you  to  Atlanta  because  your  program  manifests 
an  interest  in  the  great  problem  of  farm  life.  I  rejoice  in  the 
prospects  for  the  removal  of  that  isolation  which  has  in  the  past 
so  much  handicapped  the  man  engaged  upon  the  farm.  Good 
roads,  facilitating  easy  access  to  market,  and  bringing  the  social 
opportunities  from  which  the  farmer  has  been  deprived  should 
greatly  stimulate  agricultural  efforts.  It  is  the  duty  of  the  na- 
tion and  the  State  to  aid  in  the  removal  of  the  drawbacks  which 
isolation  has  placed  around  the  farmer. 

Encouragement  by  the  nation  and  the  State  of  cooperation 
among  the  farmers  for  the  purchase  of  their  supplies,  for  the 
sale  of  their  products,  for  the  investigation  of  those  questions 
which  concern  their  occupations,  will  go  far  to  improve  the  op- 
portunity of  this  class  of  our  citizens.  Good  schools  for  their - 
children  are  absolutely  necessary. 

When  we  urge  governmental  consideration  of  farm  interests 
in  addition  to  school  work,  we  may  well  turn  our  thoughts  to 
what  has  been  done  in  the  old  country  for  agriculture.  The 
Hungarian  government  has  revolutionized  the  conditions  of 
those  in  rural  life  by  its  stock  farm,  its  cattle  farm,  its  seed  im- 
provements. The  cooperative  movement  among  the  farmers 
of  Denmark  for  the  sale  of  their  products  has  more  than  doubled 


16  CONFERENCE  FOR   EDUCATION. 

the  return  to  the  farmer  for  his  labor,  and  even  in  Ireland  the 
Society  for  the  Encouragement  of  Agricultural  Pursuits  has 
brought  blessings  to  its  members. 

Out  of  the  ground  come  the  products  which  give  our  balance 
in  international  trade.  I  "pen  the  soil,  and  upon  those  who  till 
it  our  country  mast  chiefly  depend.  The  nation  and  the  States 
cannot  too  fully  recognize  this  fact,  nor  can  they  go  too  far  in 
appreciation  of  it. 

Above  all  we  should  resist  every  effort  to  absorb  farm  lands 
by  great  corporations.  It  is  from  the  farm,  worked  by  the  man 
who  owns  it,  that  the  greatest  benefits  to  nation  and  State  and 
to  all  the  people  will  come,  and  it  is  such  holdings  that  the  na- 
tion and  the  State  should  encourage.  Georgia  has  just  broken 
up  the  lease  system  and  placed  the  convicts  upon  th.>  public 
roads.  It  is  hard  to  estimate  what  this  will  do  for  the  improve- 
ment of  rural  life  and  the  development  of  the  agricultural  re- 
sources of  the  State. 

The  study  of  our  educational  problems  carries  us  beyond  the 
schoolhouse  into  the  home.  It  requires  the  investigation  of  all 
those  live  subjects  that  tend  to  improve  the  condition,  and  ad- 
vance the  capacity,  and  add  to  the  happiness  and  contentment 
of  our  people. 

Education  is  the  problem  of  life.  It  is  the  preparation  of 
the  child  and  the  man  to  be  and  to  do  all  which  the  opportuni- 
ties surrounding  him  make  possible.  It  is  the  very  essence  of 
human  progress  and  human  development. 

The  highest  purpose  of  man  should  be  to  serve  his  God,  his 
country,  and  his  fellowman,  and  those  who  study  how  man  can 
grow  in  heart  and  mind  and  hand  are  engaged  in  service  which 
involves  all  three,  service  to  God,  their  country  and  their  fel- 
lowman. 


MR.  OGDEN.  17 

I  welcome  you  to  Georgia.  I  have  the  pleasure  of  presenting 
to  you  the  President  of  the  Association,  Mr.  Robert  C.  Ogden. 

MR.  OGDEX. 

Governor  Smith.  Ladies  and  Gentlemen: 

I  do  not  find  my  supply  of  language  sufficiently  large  and 
complete  to  meet  the  demands  of  this  remarkable  occasion.  The 
Conference  for  Education  in  the  South  has  come  to  the  city  of 
Atlanta  by  so  many  gracious  and  cordial  invitations  that  I 
cannot  at  the  moment  command  the  names  of  them  all.  and  per- 
haps it  would  tax  your  patience  to  listen  to  them  if  I  could. 
But  Governor,  I  desire  to  say  that  our  hearts  are  full  of  grati- 
tude for  these  invitations,  which  have  been  accepted  in  the  spirit 
in  which  they  were  given.  We  are  very  grateful,  also,  for  other 
things,  and  especially  for  the  address  which  you  have  just  given 
us,  in  which  you  set  forth  so  clearly  the  educational  principles 
of  the  period  and  the  conditions  of  the  State  and  the  community 
in  which  you  live:  for  all  of  this  information  and  for  the  full- 
ness of  instruction  we  have  received.  And  so  we  meet  under 
circumstances  that  are  extremely  interesting.  "We  have  the 
privilege  of  inaugurating  this  splendid  building  by  the  first 
public  meeting  held  in  it.  It  is  certainly  a  high  honor  that  has 
been  conferred  upon  us  by  the  city  of  Atlanta,  that  of  opening 
this  splendid  edifice  for  public  use. 

Before  I  proceed  with  the  perfunctory  part  of  this  program 
I  desire  to  call  your  attention  to  several  things.  One  is  that 
every  one  attending  here,  whether  a  resident  or  from  a  distance, 
should  register  as  a  member  of  the  Conference.  This  will  be 
an  advantage  to  all  who  register  and  to  the  authorities  that 
manage  the  Conference.  You  will  probably  receive  later  on 
printed  information  of  the  proceedings  in  such  form  as  may 
perhaps  be  helpful  for  future  reference. 

I  wish  very  much  to  interest  all  of  the  people,  both  the  dele- 
gates from  a  distance  and  the  citizens  of  Atlanta,  in  the  pro- 
gram as  it  will  develop  during  the  next  two  days.  For  tomor- 
row we  have  the  State  Superintendents'  meeting  at  which  the 


18  CONFERENCE  FOR  EDUCATION. 

public  are  to  be  present,  all  who  are  willing  to  come,  and  I  am 
sure  that  in  the  meetings  to  follow  the  program  will  be  rich 
and  full  of  worth.  And  now  it  falls  to  my  lot  to  present  the 
President's  address. 

The  one  .perfunctory  performance  in  the  usual  program  of 
the  Conference  for  Education  in  the  South  is  the  President's 
address.  Although  this  Conference  is  now  twelve  years  old  it 
has  had  the  same  President  for  ten  years,  and  for  a  long  period 
I  have  been  the  only  Northern  man  in  the  organization.  It 
would  therefore  seem  perfectly  apparent  that  ten  annual  in- 
stallments of  the  same  vacancy  should  have  been  quite  enough 
to  satisfy  the  program  makers.  But,  no,  here  it  is  again  for 
the  tenth  time,  only  now  in  phrase  more  ample  and  august;  it 
is  commanded  that  the  President  shall  give  a  sort  of  historical 
review  of  the  Conference. 

It  will  be  my  purpose  to  obey  this  command  in  some  partial 
and  brief  fashion.  But  within  the  little  time  that  I  will  be  a 
tax  upon  your  patience  I  shall  refer  to  certain  new  subjects 
that  I  desire  the  Conference  to  consider,  and  will  make  some 
reference  to  the  program  that  awaits  our  proceedings  during  the 
two  following  days. 

On  a  former  occasion  I  stated  that  this  Conference  assem- 
bled at  the  call  of  the  child.  I  now  repeat  the  statement  with 
added  emphasis.  Classical  scholars  know  better  than  the  mass 
of  us  that  the  grace  and  culture  of  Greece  and  of  Rome  had 
no  place  in  all  their  philosophy  for  the  child.  Gibbon  states: 
"In  the  forum,  the  senate  or  the  camp  the  adult  son  of  a  Ro- 
man citizen  enjoyed  the  public  and  private  rights  of  a  person; 
in  his  father's  house  he  was  a  mere  thing;  confounded  by  the 
laws  with  the  movables,  the  cattle  and  the  slaves,  whom  the 
capricious  master  might  alienate  or  destroy  without  being  re* 
sponsible  to  any  earthly  tribunal."  He  further  says:  "The 
exposition  of  children  was  the  prevailing  and  stubborn  vice  of 
antiquity;  it  was  sometimes  prescribed,  often  permitted,  almost 
always  practiced  with  impunity,  by  the  nations  who  never  en- 
tertained the  Roman  ideas  of  paternal  power." 

I  venture  to  make  this  brief  allusion  that  I  may  call  atten- 


MR.  OGDEN.  19 

tion  to  the  contrast  presented  under  present  conditions.  The 
Hebrew  faith,  preceding  and  supplying  the  base  of  Christianity, 
had  a  very  different  view  of  childhood  from  that  which  pre- 
vailed in  the  heathen  nations.  Now.  the  protection  of  the  de- 
ficient or  unfortunate  child  is  a  distinguishing  mark  of  Chris- 
tian civilization;  the  more  pronounced  the  need  the  more  pene- 
trating and  arresting  is  the  cry  for  help. 

Out  of  these  conditions  come  the  great  restless,  anxious 
movement  intended  to  give  the  child  the  chance  which  is  his 
birthright.  And  so  we  have  many  movements  looking  toward 
betterment.  National  associations  for  professional  education, 
touching  questions  of  administration  and  discipline  from  every 
view  point,  for  the  regulation  of  child  labor,  for  universal  play- 
grounds, for  industrial  education  and  so  on  through  a  long 
list  of  subjects,  all  of  which  appeal  to  the  altruist  and  should 
command  the  attention  of  every  citizen. 

Into  this  group  of  associations  comes  our  Conference  and 
asks  a  hearing.  Beginning  with  the  child  it  rises  and  broadens 
into  other  educational  interests  than  merely  the  elementary 
school,  but  always  on  lines  that  are  logical  and  natural. 

It  is  given  to  few  to  make  statistics  eloquent  or  so  to  pre- 
sent hard  facts  in  <:raeeful  phrase  as  to  make  them  interesting. 
In  the  present  case  the  task  is  especially  difficult  as  the  story 
of  this  organization  touches  so  largely  upon  the  spiritual  life 
of  the  people:  its  influence  has  been  so  much  given  to  the  cre- 
ation of  an  ideal:  its  aims  stretch  so  far  away  to  a  dim  and  dis- 
tant future  when  we.  the  present  ui-tors  in.  and  directors  of, 
its  work  shall  be  entirely  forgotten,  as  to  almost  defy  any  pres- 
ent statement  concerning  what  it  is  or  what  it  has  done.  And 
yet  the  facts  if  given  fully  and  stated  in  detail  would  awaken 
astonishment,  for  it  would  sound  more  like  a  story  of  the  imagi- 
nation than  a  practical  narrative  of  contemporary  history. 
Looked  at  in  front  it  seems  bright  and  beautiful  as  a  perfect  mir- 
ror that  gives  back  a  reflection  of  bright  and  dazzling  light.  But 
turn  the  back  of  the  mirror  and  all  seems  so  dark  and  forbid- 
ding as  to  suggest  that  nothing  has  been  done,  so  great  is  the 
undone  margin  that  challenges  long  continued  and  persistent 
effort. 


20  CONFERENCE  FOR  EDUCATION. 

This  Conference  holds  its  place  as  a  part  of  an  educational 
renaissance.  This  work  can  perhaps  be  definitely  defined  only 
at  a  single  point.  It  exists  primarily  to  impress  upon  the  mind 
of  the  citizen,  the  people,  the  responsibility  of  the  individual 
for  educational  conditions ;  to  support  the  claim  that  every  child 
in  America,  native  or  foreign  born,  is  entitled  to  a  good  English 
education;  that  it  is  the  duty  of  the  State  as  representing  the 
people  to  provide  such  education;  that  in  the  words  of  the  man 
that  recruited  me  and  pledged  my  service,  such  as  it  is,  to  this 
work,  J.  L.  M.  Curry,  President  of  this  Conference  in  its  second 
year,  "Ignorance  Cures  Nothing,"  and  therefore  our  civiliza- 
tion must  banish  ignorance  and  replace  it  with  intelligence ;  must 
provide  facilities  for  education  and  compel  the  use  of  such 
facilities;  must  create  such  standards  of  intelligence  as  will 
make  ignorance  a  conscious  discredit,  not  to  say  disgrace. 

Our  association  is  called  the  Conference  for  Education  in 
the  South.  It  is,  so  far  as  I  know,  the  only  popular  civic  organi- 
zation in  the  interests  of  education  in  the  country.  Other  sec- 
tions of  the  country  need  it  and  in  the  judgment  of  many  it 
should  have  a  national  character.  The  nation  is  treated  as  a 
whole  by  civic  organizations  for  the  improvement  of  municipal 
government;  for  the  beautifying  of  towns  and  cities;  for  chari- 
ties and  correction;  for  industrial  education;  for  the  standard- 
izing of  higher  education.  Why  not  then  for  emphasizing  the 
duty  of  the  citizen,  the  man  in  the  street,  in  respect  of  education  ? 

I  am  almost  led  to  exclaim,  and  would,  were  it  not  for  some 
reasons  that  will  follow,  "may  the  time  come  and  come  soon, 
when  this  organization  may  broaden  its  influence  until  it  shall 
be  wide  as  the  continent  and  long  as  the  land." 

Some  advantages  exist,  however,  in  the  more  limited  and 
local  character  of  the  Conference  work.  It  took  the  organization 
four  years  to  find  itself.  Happily  when  its  mission  was  discov- 
ered it  was  not  so  big  as  to  lose  itself  in  its  own  vastness.  Social 
influences  have  always  surrounded  it  and  it  has  been  a  dynamic 
power  in  the  development  and  uplift  of  many  a  lonely  soul. 
Throughout  the  States  represented  here  there  were,  before  this 
association  came  into  being,  thousands  of  people  in  rural  places, 


MR.  OGDEN.  21 

with  clear  vision  as  to  the  educational  needs  of  the  rural  people, 
whose  lives  were  consumed  with  hopeless  longing,  whose  minds 
were  keen  as  to  what  ought  to  be  done  and  yet  could  not  see 
even  the  faint  glimmer  of  the  early  dawn  of  a  better  day.  There 
are  many  such  yet,  but  the  class  that  has  been  brought  into  large 
and  sympathetic  fellowship  by  this  Conference,  in  whom  inspi- 
ration and  faith  have  been  developed,  would  of  itself  alone  just- 
ify all  the  cost  in  labor  and  in  money  that  has  been  expended 
upon  it.  One  of  the  clearest  thinkers  and  ablest  writers  on  educa- 
tional, economic  and  social  questions  in  the  South  has  said  that 
this  Conference  has  taught  the  South  to  know  itself  in  educa- 
tional matters.  And  I  am  sure  he  is  right. 

Another  local  advantage  is  found  in  the  fact  that  while  the 
South  has  all  the  general  questions  of  education  that  pertain 
to  all  the  rest  of  the  country  it  has  also  superadded  certain 
conditions  peculiarly  her  own.  In  summing  up  the  reasons  for 
the  existence  of  this  Conference  it  may  be  concluded  that  for 
the  immediate  future  at  least  it  will  be  found  advantageous  to 
allow  it  to  live  its  life  upon  present  lines. 

Aside  from  the  first  mentioned  special  influence  this  Con- 
ference makes  no  direct  claim  save  that  it  has  by  various  agen- 
cies assisted  in  the  promotion  and  development  of  many  pro- 
gressive educational  ideas,  and,  through  the  Southern  Educa- 
tion Board,  to  which  it  is  both  mother  and  child,  has  supplied 
methods  and  incidental  support  that  have  caused  many  latent 
forces  to  germinate,  flourish  and  bring  forth  abundant  fruit 
that  otherwise  never  could  have  existed.  We  simply  have  planted 
seed  that  eventually  produced  large  harvests. 

I  am  told,  and  I  think  the  statement  is  accurate,  that  dur- 
ing the  last  seven  years  the  public  appropriations  for  educa- 
tion in  the  States  under  the  influence  of  the  Southern  Educa- 
tion Board  have  increased  $16,000,000  per  annum.  These  figures 
are  difficult  of  verification,  but  probably  are  greater  than  I  have 
stated.  We  have  had  something  to  do  with  this  result,  how  much 
may  not  be  a  subject  for  definite  calculation. 

This  Conference  has  reproduced  itself  in  many  directions. 
In  Virginia  it  developed  the  Cooperative  Education  Association 


22  CONFERENCE  FOR  EDUCATION. 

with  which  the  Southern  Education  Board  is  in  sympathetic  and 
material  relation.  This  association  has  created  branch  organiza- 
tions in  many  counties  of  the  State ;  has  raised  money  with  which 
to  carry  forward  its  own  work;  has  vigorously  promoted  the 
high  school  idea :  has  issued  remarkable  and  original  matter  for 
the  guidance  of  public  speakers,  and  the  instruction  of  the 
people. 

In  North  Carolina  the  Commissioner  of  Public  Education 
has  been  enabled  to  carry  on  a  propaganda  for  the  local  tax 
which  has  brought  hundreds  of  school  districts  to  the  uplifting 
idea  of  self-help  through  the  levying  of  the  local  school  tax  by 
popular  vote.  In  harmony  with  this  the  Women's  School  Im- 
provement League  has  made  a  steady  advance  in  improving  the 
conditions  of  schoolhouses  by  means  of  decorations  and  various 
betterments.  But  over  and  above  all  this  perhaps  the  crowning 
benefit  to  this  State  has  been  found  in  the  erection  of  some 
thousands  of  new  schoolhouses,  modern  in  design  and  conven- 
ient in  equipment.  North  Carolina  has  a  little  experiment  now 
in  progress  that  may  well  serve  as  an  inspiration  to  other  States. 
Several  rural  schools  have  had  school  ground  under  cultiva- 
tion, not  primarily  for  education,  but  for  profit.  Crops  of  cot- 
ton and  hay  have  been  raised  and  the  terms  have  thereby  been 
lengthened  two  or  more  months  in  the  school  year,  and  thus 
the  communities  in  which  they  are  located  have  seen  a  great 
light.  This  school  agriculture  pays  and  pays  well,  and  so  from 
an  economic  experience  the  farming  population  quickly  learns 
the  value  of  practical  agricultural  education  and  then  the  edu- 
. cation  follows.  How  much  more  valuable  is  an  educational 
idea  evolved  from  within  and  not  imposed  from  without!  My 
only  purpose  is  to  drop  this  hint  in  the  hope  that  at  the  proper 
point  in  these  proceedings  Superintendent  Joyner  may  give 
further  information  upon  this  general  subject. 

In  South  Carolina,  Georgia,  Kentucky  and  Alabama  the 
women's  organizations  and  work  have  been  very  specially  pow- 
erful. The  whirlwind  campaign  in  Kentucky  at  the  last  Thanks- 
giving holiday  was  a  powerful  and  potent  force  in  the  revival 
of  the  educational  idea. 


MR.  OGDEN.  23 

The  Conference  for  Education  in  Mississippi  has  been  or- 
ganized especially  for  the  promotion  of  the  normal  school  idea. 
The  Conference  for  Education  in  Texas  has  not  only  supported 
itself  thus  far  by  generous  contributions  but  has  controlled  and 
improved  legislation  and  increased  appropriation  for  educa- 
tion. It  now  has  before  it  the  large  and  important  task  of  in- 
structing the  people  concerning  the  great  advantages  secured 
by  their  own  laws.  Upon  this  interesting  subject  we  shall  hear 
from  Mr.  Clarence  Ouslej^,  of  Fort  Worth,  Texas,  the  inspirer 
and  leader  of  the  movement,  in  the  course  of  our  deliberations. 

The  unceasing  agitation  in  Tennessee  by  means  of  meetings 
and  conferences,  under  the  guidance  of  the  chairman  of  the 
Campaign  Committee  of  the  Southern  Education  Board,  has 
brought  about  remarkable  results.  The  beginnings  of  organized 
work  in  Arkansas  and  the  quiet  progress  in  Louisiana  are  also 
subjects  of  great  interest. 

Each  State  has  its  own  peculiar  points  of  attractive  study 
as  you  will  have  noticed  from  the  condensed  detail  just  given 
concerning  Virginia,  North  Carolina  and  Texas. 

These  brief,  crude,  hasty,  incomplete  and  inadequate  refer- 
ences to  the  doings  of  the  Conference  in  years  that  have  passed 
are  all  that  the  limited  time  at  command  permits,  and  are  all, 
perhaps,  that  a  popular  American  audience  desires.  But  I  beg 
of  you  to  remember  that  this  account  covers  a  story  of  useful 
activity,  devotion,  patriotism  and  self-sacrifice  that  is  contin- 
uously helping  to  make  this  land  a  better  place  for  life  and  for 
living.  Your  own  imagination  can  fill  out  the  picture. 

The  remainder  of  my  time  must  be  devoted  to  a  few  sugges- 
tions as  to  certain  general,  conditions  and  to  what  may  be  ex- 
pected with  the  development  of  the  program  that  is  being  ex- 
pected to  cover  the  next  two  days. 

The  twelve  years  that  measure  the  life  of  the  Conference  for 
Education  in  the  South  have  been  years  of  great  originality 
in  the  development  of  American  education.  The  American 
spirit  in  education  has  crowned  our  institutions  of  higher  edu- 
cation with  many  highly  creditable  developments  for  the  gen- 
eral instruction  of  men  and  women  and  the  creation  of  classes 


24  CONFERENCE  FOR  EDUCATION. 

of  scholarly  specialists.  It  has  created  by  the  communism  of 
experience  many  progressive  ideas  in  elementary  and  high  school 
education  that  have  brought  vast  benefits  to  the  cities,  but  which 
are  still  denied  to  the  greater  part  of  the  rural  districts.  It  has, 
however,  done  more  than  this.  It  has  taught  us  to  so  examine 
and  understand  our  methods  that  while  appreciating  all  their 
merits  and  usefulness  to  also  understand  their  great  and  glar- 
ing defects— to  look  squarely  at  the  conditions— to  discover  why 
so  much  of  our  alleged  education  is  practically  no  education  at 
all,  in  any  true  sense,  when  the  preparation  of  the  pupil  for  the 
facts  of  life  are  compared  with  the  demands  of  daily  experience. 

The  discovery  of  these  defects  has  brought  out  much  re- 
search of  causes  and  needs  which  in  their  turn  have  developed 
enormous  plans  of  improvement  and  have  evolved  clear  ideas 
that  act  as  lighthouses  to  mark  the  channel  of  progress  toward 
better  things. 

Thus  things  have  been  found  equally  valuable  with  books 
as  means  of  instruction,  and  so  industrial  education  has  taken 
a  great  hold  upon  the  educational  mind.  But  the  educational 
mind  needs  much  instruction  upon  industrial  education.  The 
phrase  slips  lightly  off  the  tongue,  but  it  has  vast  possibilities, 
knowledge  of  which  may  not  be  acquired  by  hasty  glances  at  a 
carpenter  shop  or  a  printing  office.  Closely  associated  with 
and  indeed  a  part  of  industrial  education  is  agricultural  edu- 
cation, and  again  closely  connected  with  this  is  the  whole  prob- 
lem of  rural  life.  The  workshop  and  the  soil  should  afford  thi- 
niost  interesting  opportunities  of  active,  productive  and  useful 
life.  But  they  have  been  mainly  the  sphere  for  merely  the  ' '  daily 
round  and  common  task."  The  old. dreary  notion  of  pious  life 
would  commend  them  to  us  as  a  "means  of  grace,"  while  the  bet- 
ter ideas  of  a  progressive  religion,  taking  account  of  science  and 
of  history,  tell  us  they  should  be  a  "hope  of  glory."  And  out 
of  this  agitation  comes  a  vast  impulse  to  find  the  way  to  higher 
things.  "We  learn  of  the  waste  of  our  natural  resources — our 
lands  should  produce  three  times  their  present  crops ;  our  forests 
should  be  protected  and  preserved;  irrigation  should  be  pro- 
moted, and  the  vast  wealth  already  produced  should  be  proven 


MR.  OGDEN.  25 

only  a  thriftless  waste  of  the  largeness  bestowed  by  a  bountiful 
Providence.  It  is  only  a  short  time  since  I  learned  in  this  State 
of  a  product  of  one  and  three-quarters  bales  of  cotton  per  acre 
upon  land  in  a  neighborhood  where  half  a  bale  to  the  acre  was 
generally  considered  a  good  crop.  So  much  for  tilling  the  land 
with  brains. 

Most  significant  is  the  recent  National  Commission  upon 
Rural  Life.  The  investigations  and  findings  of  this  commission 
are  now,  or  soon  will  be,  accessible  to  every  one  caring  to  read 
them.  But  the  centre  of  study  and  action  upon  this  subject 
has  been  and  is  the  Central  Northwest.  Wisconsin,  Iowa  and 
Minnesota  have  developed  a  surprising  amount  of  practical  and 
scientific  knowledge  that  has  so  appealed  to  the  imagination  of 
our  Executive  Secretary  as  to  lead  him  in  the  creation  of  his 
admirable  program  to  make  "the  keynote  of  the  Conference  the 
improvement  of  conditions  in  the  open  country." 

Our  friends  in  the  South  are  so  alive  to  the  instructive  and 
constructive  influence  of  the  State  universities  in  the  States 
just  named,  as  organizations  that  serve  the  people  directly,  as 
to  desire  that  their  influence  may  flow  down  the  Mississippi  Val- 
ley and  flood  those  States  farther  south.  And  so  President  Van 
Hise,  of  the  University  of  AYisconsin.  will  share  the  last  evening 
with  President  Alderman,  of  the  University  of  Virginia,  and 
Dr.  John  Lee  Coulter,  of  the  University  of  Minnesota,  will  come 
to  tell  something  of  how  brains  can  be  mixed  with  soil. 

This  pervasive  spirit  has  taught  us  that  education  is  expen- 
sive and  that  there  is  nothing  more  wasteful  than  cheap  edu- 
cation, cheaply  supervised  and  administered  by  ignorance  in 
partnership  with  neglect.  What  greater  incongruity  than  to 
demand  a  teaching  certificate  of  the  lowest  grade  girl  teacher 
in  an  elementary  school,  and  yet  to  fill  places  in  a  school  board 
with  political  favorites  and  to  create  local  superintendents  of 
men  who  are  in  perfect  ignorance  of  teaching  as  a  profession? 

This  organization  exists  for  the  promotion  of  a  universal 
civic  spirit  of  education.  Our  institutions  of  higher  and  lower 
education  will  simply  reflect  the  popular  demand.  In  a  democ- 
racy the  people  set  the  pace,  evolve  the  standards,  determine 


26  CONFERENCE  FOR  EDUCATION*. 

the  quality  of  institutions.  Schools  from  the  kindergarten  to 
the  university  will  in  their  quality  be  simply  responsive  to  the 
best  intelligence  of  the  people.  With  only  the  limitation  of 
material  resources  the  schools  will  be  no  better,  no  worse,  than 
the  people  demand.  Therefore  our  efforts  should  be  and  are 
directed  toward  elevating  the  demand. 

The  remarkable  influence  already  apparent  in  the  efforts  of 
the  Carnegie  Foundation  and  the  fSeneral  Education  Board 
working  in  complete  harmony  to  standardize  higher  education 
will  proceed  by  a  long  process  through  painful  steps  and  slow 
to  complete  realization.  But  it  will  come.  Incongruous  col- 
leges will  cease  to  call  themselves  universities.  Alleged  colleges, 
which  are  merely  preparatory  schools,  will  fall  into  proper 
place.  Names  will  have  a  true  value  and  a  real  meaning.  Young 
women  will  not  be  satisfied  with  the  review  of  so-called  finishing 
at  female  seminaries  and  young  men  will  find  out  the  real  value 
of  a  diploma.  When  that  time  comes  the  value  of  accuracy  and 
honesty  will  appear  in  education  as  in  all  other  things.  And 
so  as  among  men  each  takes  his  tone  from  the  man  next  above 
will  our  schools  fall  into  line  naturally  and  easily.  But  that 
good  time  is  in  the  beyond.  It  is,  however,  great  and  beautiful 
to  live  in  even  the  early  glimmer  of  the  dawn  of  better  days. 

That  "a  little  child  shall  lead"  the  thoughtful,  earnest,  sin- 
cere and  patriotic  people  of  this  country  is  becoming  daily  more 
evident.  And  this  is  only  a  response  to  the  systematic  and  sci- 
entific method  that  is  just  beginning  its  powerful  and  benefi- 
cent work  for  the  American  people.  Able  people  are  studying 
deeply  into  causes  and  are  discovering  the  reasons  for  physical, 
mental  and  moral  defects.  Thus  it  is  that  the  housing  of  our 
poorer  population,  the  costs  of  living,  the  conditions  of  rural 
life,  the  care  of  dependent  and  defective  children,  are  made 
subjects  of  national  interest. 

I  will  not  attempt  more  than  a  passing  reference  to  statistics, 
which  are  the  despair  of  an  audience  and  the  doom  of  a  speaker; 
but  listen  a  moment  to  some  figures  thrown  out  by  a  report 
which  resulted  from  an  examination  of  the  public  school  scholars 
in  Washington: 


MR.  OGDEN.  27 

Total  number  of  pupils 43,005 

White  children    29.598 

Colored  children    13,407 

Per  cent 

White  defective  children 11,520  38.9 

Colored  defective  children .  .  .   3.784  28.2 


15,304 


The  superior  condition  of  the  colored  children  is  due  to  bet- 
ter teeth. 

Omitting  from  this  consideration  the  6,698  pupils  who  needed 
only  dental  care— a  matter  of  importance  to  general  health  — 
we  still  have  to  deal  with  8,606  pupils,  or  20%  of  the  whole, 
whose  physical  condition  should  be  a  matter  of  grave  concern. 

Of  this  number  149  are  crippled;  272  are  deformed;  461 
have  strabismus-squint :  312  having  discharging  ears :  835  have 
defective  hearing:  2.176  have  defective  vision;  2,062  were  mouth 
breathers :  703  were  undersize :  727  were  ill  nourished :  934  were 
anemic. 

And  these  percentages  are  far  below  the  results  given  by  in- 
vestigation in  New  York.  Analytical  study  of  existing  physical 
conditions  pile  up  additional  facts  in  startling  accumulation. 

To  deal  with  this  situation  it  is  seriously  proposed  to  form 
a  national  bureau  of  investigation  and  publicity  as  a  part  of 
the  Interior  Department.  I  mention  this  subject  to  connect  it 
with  another,  namely,  the  treatment  accorded  to  the  National 
Bureau  of  Education  by  the  last  session  of  Congress.  The  Com- 
missioner, now  present  with  us.  asked  for  the  following  addi- 
tional appropriation:  $40,000  to  pay  for  investigation:  $8.000 
with  which  to  collect  statistics;  $39.000  for  better  offices.  Con- 
gress denied  all  these  requests  save  only  $4.700. 

The  palatial  headquarters  of  this  important  bureau  are  an 
antiquated  four-story  building,  not  to  be  mentioned  in  compar- 
ison with  the  New  York  State  Educational  Building  now  being 
erected  in  Albany. 


28  CONFERENCE  FOR  EDUCATION. 

The  salary  roll  of  the  entire  staff,  including  that  of  the  Com- 
sioner,  is  $56,500;  his  library  has  $500  and  his  statisticians 
$4,000  for  collecting  material.  Omitting  the  cost  of  printing 
the  Commissioner's  annual  report  and  the  education  of  certain 
Alaskans  the  entire  bureau  received  in  this  year  of  educational 
enthusiasm  the  stupefying  sum  of  $67,500.  These  figures  are 
from  an  editorial  in  the  New  York  Evening  Post. 

Compare  with  this  discreditable  showing  the  ease  with  which 
Congress  wisely  appropriates  many  millions  of  dollars  annually 
to  investigation  by  the  Department  of  Agriculture  for  the  bene- 
fit of  the  farmer  and  the  absurdity  of  the  case  is  immediately 
apparent.  What  would  be  the  effect  if  the  children  had  votes? 

We  have  been  demanding  that  education  be  recognized  by 
the  creation  of  a  department  of  education  in  the  general  govern- 
ment. The  demand  for  a  bureau  of  investigation  and  publicity 
of  the  physical  defects  of  children  would  find  its  easy,  natural 
place  in  a  properly  organized  department  of  education. 

To  prove  this  by  argument  and  comparative  statement  would 
be  easy  did  your  time  and  patience  permit.  But  I  do  submit 
that  our  Committee  on  Resolutions  should  take  notice  of  this 
vitally  important  question  and  recommend  the  action  that  will 
be  desirable  for  this  Conference  to  take  upon  the  subject. 
Should  resolutions  in  harmony  with  this  suggestion  be  adopted 
it  would  simply  be  consistent  Avith  the  action  of  the  State  Su- 
perintendents of  the  Southern  States  which  was  taken  last  Oc- 
tober at  a  meeting,  Commissioner  Brown  being  present,  in  Bos- 
ton at  which  the  influence  of  each  Superintendent  with  his  dele- 
gation in  Congress  was  pledged  to  secure  considerate  and  favor- 
able legislation  on  behalf  of  the  National  Bureau  of  Education. 

And  now  I  have  fulfilled  the  promise  to  give  you  a  crude 
and  incomplete  statement,  to  furnish  an  object  lasson  of  the 
need  of  education,  to  fulfill  the  role  of  the  frightful  example 
at  a  temperance  lecture.  It  only  remains  for  me  to  suggest  a 
few  points  concerning  the  Conference  for  your  thoughtful  con- 
sideration : 

First.  Study  the  program  carefully.  It  is  packed  full  of 
the  most  interesting  topics  that  will  be  discussed  by  men  and 


MR.  OGDEN.  29 

women  of  distinction  and  of  ability  in  their  several  subjects. 
Furnish  a  large  and  appreciative  audience  at  each  session. 

Second.  Take  careful  notice  of  the  State  meetings.  Let  the 
people  of  the  several  States  rally  in  force  to  the  meetings.  Their 
importance  cannot  be  overstated. 

Third.  Do  not  fail  to  register  your  names  and  addresses. 
They  will  be  needed  for  your  own  advantage  on  future  occasions. 

Fourth.  A  few  copies  remain  of  some  previous  annual  re- 
ports, but  it  is  now  impossible  to  supply  any  complete  sets. 
Such  as  we  have  can  be  had  by  writing  a  request  to  AVickliffe 
Rose,  927  Stahlman  Building,  Nashville,  Tenn. 

On  former  occasions  in  other  cities  the  meetings  of  this  Con- 
ference have  proved  to  be  an  inspiration  and  blessing.  It  is  our 
hope  to  make  such  an  impression  upon  Atlanta  that  we  may 
long  be  remembered  with  friendly  satisfaction  by  the  good  peo- 
ple of  this  hospitable  and  enterprising  city. 

And  now  thanking  you  for  the  patience  with  which  you  have 
received  this  recital  1  have  the  pleasure  to  present  to  the  au- 
dience President  S.  C.  Mitchell,  of  the  University  of  South  Car- 
olina, who  will  speak  to  us  on  "The  American  Spirit  in  Edu- 
cation." 

DR.  MITCHELL. 
THE  AMERICAN-  SPIRIT  IN  EDUCATION. 

The  American  spirit  is  distinctive  in  government,  commerce, 
architecture,  journalism  and  religion  as  regards  separation  of 
Church  and  State.  It  would  be  surprising  if  the  American 
spirit  were  not  also  distinctive  in  education,  so  thoroughgoing 
is  our  democracy.  This  distinction  appears  in  contrast  with 
two  former  ideals  in  education.  First,  education  at  times  con- 
sisted in  initiating  an  individual  into  the  manners  and  tone  of 
thought  of  a  particular  social  class.  Such  was  the  feudal  school, 
preparing  elect  youth  for  the  knightly  order.  Such  is  Eton 
titdny.  s.-eking  to  produce  English  gentlemen.  Secondly,  edu- 
cation has  sometimes  aimed  to  maintain  certain  religious  tenets. 
Such  were  the  monastic  schools  of  the  middle  ages,  and  such 


30  CONFERENCE  FOR  EDUCATION. 

are  the  sectarian  schools  of  a  later  date.  Now,  in  marked  op- 
position to  these  two  types  of  education  is  the  American  school. 
It  is  not  classical ;  it  is  not  ecclesiastical :  it  is  not  merely  cul- 
tural. On  the  other  hand,  it  is  democratic,  aiming  primarily 
at  efficiency,  both  as  regards  the  individual  and  society. 

PUBLIC  IN  Si •  i TORT. 

While  America  welcomes  in  education  private  enterprise  and 
denominational  effort,  to  which  we  owe  a  vast  debt  of  gratitude 
for  constructive  service,  yet  the  people  of  this  country  have 
made  up  their  minds  that  it  is  the  duty  of  the  State  to  school 
the  child.  The  only  sure  bases  of  a  republic  are  the  intelligence 
and  virtue  of  its  citizens,  whose  common  will  is  law.  I'niversal 
education  is  a  truer  test  of  democracy  than  universal  suffrage. 
at  least  in  the  South.  It  is  found  that  public  taxation  alone  is 
equal  to  the  task  of  training  all  the  children  in  our  democracy. 
Three  hundred  million  dollars  are  spent  annually  by  this  coun- 
try on  public  education.  It  is  a  mistake  to  think  of  the  public 
school  as  a  free  school  in  the  sense  that  it  costs  nothing,  since 
the  people  pay  for  it  as  truly  as  individuals  who  support  a  pri- 
vate academy.  A  public  school  is  rather  a  cooperative  school, 
one  in  which,  by  an  excellent  plan,  all  the  people  of  a  commun- 
ity share  the  burdens  and  benefits.  Cooperation  is  the  lesson 
that  we  Southern  people  are  learning  rapidly.  This  educational 
movement  in  the  South  is  building  up  community  life  by  mak- 
ing effective  the  cooperative  principle  in  all  forms  of  progres- 
sive action.  It  finds  application  first  in  the  neighborhood  school, 
but  it  rapidly  extends  itself  to  the  public  library,  the  demon- 
stration farm,  the  cooperative  dairy,  good  roads,  the  local  fac- 
tory and  the  general  enrichment  of  rural  life. 

The  people  of  the  South  have  shown  that  they  arc  willing  to 
sacrifice  in  the  interest  of  their  children.  Signal  examples  of 
this  are  found  in  the  mcrea.se  of  local  taxes  and  larger  grants 
by  the  legislatures  for  the  schools,  as  well  as  in  the  splendid 
new  buildings  that  are  rising  everywhere  throughout  the  land. 
We  have  tapped  new  sources  of  strength  in  community  effort 


DR.  MITCHELL.  31 

for  education.  What  the  individual,  or  the  family,  or  the  de- 
nomination were  too  weak  to  accomplish,  it  is  found  that  the 
community,  acting  as  a  unit,  can  easily  do. 

Mark  the  changing  sphere  of  the  State  in  American  democ- 
racy. The  modern  commonwealth  is  concerning  itself  less  and 
less  with  "big  politics,"  and  more  and  more  with  education, 
public  sanitation,  the  regulation  of  the  labor  of  women  and 
children  in  factories,  better  agriculture,  the  extension  of  the 
rural  mail  delivery  and  other  similar  everyday  tasks  of  a  homely 
character.  Our  fathers  fought  for  States'  rights,  but  is  not 
the  State  under  the  present  order  coming  into  possession  of 
transcendent  rights  that  were  too  long  held  in  abeyance,  namely, 
the  right  to  educate  all  the  children  in  the  spirit  and  ideals 
of  American  democracy  ?  Perhaps  it  is  truer  to  say  that  the 
modern  State  is  thinking  of  its  duties  as  well  as  its  rights. 
There  is  no  saner  political  principle  than  that  insisted  upon  by 
a  famous  teacher  in  the  University  of  South  Carolina,  Francis 
Lieber:  "No  right  without  its  duty;  no  duty  without  its  right." 
The  local  community  and  the  State  at  large  now  recognize  that 
their  supreme  duty  is  the  training  of  the  children  in  economics 
and  political  efficiency. 

Civic  ix  MOTIVE. 

Equality  of  opportunity  for  all  is  the  platform  of  the  public 
school.  As  we  get  an  insight  into  the  deeper  obligations  of 
democracy  the  purposefulness  of  the  school  becomes  more  and 
more  significant.  Better  the  fettered  hand  than  the  seared  eye- 
ball. Democracy  prop<  M\S  to  give  to  every  child  access  to  the 
treasures  of  human  experience  and  knowledge,  with  a  view  to 
its  development  and  to  the  prouress  of  society  as  a  whole. 

The  public  school  implies,  therefore,  faith  in  the  capacity 
of  the  average  man.  It  believes  in  blood,  but  it  believes  that  all 
human  blood  is  blue.  ' '  One  half  of  the  best  natural  genius  born 
into  a  country  belongs  to  the  manual  labor  classes. "  The  pub- 
lic school  provides  for  such  genius  born  in  obscurity.  Think 
of  the  pains  taken  to  train  Helen  Keller,  a  spirit  once  almost 
entombed  in  a  body!  How  splendid  have  been  the  results  of 


32  CONFERENCE  FOR  EDUCATION. 

the  emancipation  of  her  soul !  Similarly  divine  capacities  lie 
hidden  in  every  boy  or  girl,  lurking  in  yonder  mountain  pass 
or  in  the  slum  section  of  a  modern  city.  Sublime  is  the  uncon- 
querable faith  of  America  in  the  power  of  education  to  develop 
the  people  in  all  that  makes  for  industrial  independence  and 
political  sanity. 

NATIONAL  IN  SC&PE. 

What  are  the  bonds  of  union  in  a  democracy  like  ours.' 
They  are  not  merely  political.  Essentially  they  are  sympathies, 
common  ideals  and  traditions,  mutual  interests,  like-minded- 
ness.  "How  can  two  walk  together,  except  they  be  agreed.'1" 
The  school  begets  such  community  of  interests.  The  tiniest 
schoolhouse  on  the  hill  yonder  overlooks  all  America.  "Amer- 
ica is  not  so  many  square  miles  of  territory,  nor  so  many 
millions  of  population,  but  a  tremendous  idea  in  process  of 
realization,"  A  prime  duty  of  the  school  is  the  child's 
orientation.  His  survey  must  extend  from  the  centre  to  the 
circumference  of  our  country.  His  vision  must  not  be  confined 
to  a  mere  segment,  whether  a  class,  or  a  party,  or  a  denomina- 
tion ;  but  it  must  embrace  the  whole  circle  of  national  interests. 
The  school  must  not  only  democratize  but  also  nationalize  the 
youth  of  our  land. 

SCIENTIFIC  IN  METHOD. 

The  school  is  set  to  teach  thinking,  and  not  books  nor  doc- 
trinal or  partisan  tenets.  It  is  easy  to  teach  facts,  such  as  geog- 
raphy or  history;  it  is  hard  to  teach  thinking.  Yet  thinking 
is  the  supreme  thing.  Dr.  Henry  S.  Pritchett  insists  that  our 
American  leaders  have  more  often  failed  us  in  the  ability  to 
think  straight  than  in  any  moral  delinquency.  It  was  also  a 
maxim  of  Horace  Mann  that  "one  former  is  worth  a  hundred 
reformers."  What  a  democracy  needs  is  men  who  see  things 
whole  and  who  have  the  independence  of  thought  and  depth 
of  conviction  as  to  public  issues  to  stand  alone,  if  occasion  re- 
quires. We  must  covet  the  virtue  of  minorities.  As  a  section, 
we  are  far  too  subject  to  be  stampeded.  We  have  to  remind 


DR.  MITCHELL.  33 

ourselves  that  political  sanity  is  a  factor  in  party  success.  We 
Southern  people  too  often  move  as  a  mass.  Criticism  is  essen- 
tial in  a  commonwealth  like  ours.  Democracy  is  government 
by  discussion,  and  discussion  involves  conflict  of  opinion,  free- 
dom of  utterance  and  political  tolerance. 

To  rear  a  brood  of  men  of  this  democratic  type — clear- 
sighted, independent.  t<  lerant  and  free  from  prejudice,  the 
school  must  be  manned  by  a  master  in  mind-making.  The  time 
has  gone  by  when  anybody  can  teach  school,  when  any  shanty 
may  serve  as  a  schoolhonse.  Trained  teachers,  laboratories, 
libraries,  maps,  and  above  all,  a  personality  aflame  with  love 
of  childhood  and  truth  are  the  requisites  of  every  school.  Such 
schools  are  now  rapidly  adorning  the  communities  of  the  South, 
and  they  presage  a  new  day  in  material  development,  social 
order  and  political  power  for  all  of  our  people. 

Dr.  Albert  Shaw  declares  that  the  public  school  teachers 
are  the  mast  numerous  and  important  body  of  officials  in  the 
employment  of  the  State.  They  are  indeed  the  structural  fac- 
tors in  our  civilization.  Such  being  the  case,  I  yearn  to  see  the 
day  when  not  a  single  teacher  in  a  public  school  shall  receive 
less  than  ^.">0  a  month.  IK  r  be  employed  less  than  nine  months 
a  year  in  the  sch<  «•!. 

SOCIAL  ix   EFFECT. 

We  are  relating  anew  the  school  to  the  life  of  the  neighbor- 
hood. Education  is  now  regarded  as  the  gradual  adjustment 
of  the  child  to  his  spiritual  environment.  What  the  race  has 
produced  in  literature,  art,  science  and  government,  the  youth 
reproduces  in  his  studies.  "The  school  universalizes  his  indi- 
vidual nature  and  socializes  his  private  impulses."  The  meas- 
ure of  a  man's  life  is  the  radius  of  his  sympathy.  The  school 
enlarges  the  horizon  of  the  mind.  Hence,  the  effect  of  educa- 
tion is  seen  in  such  practical  matters  as  forestry,  the  increased 
fertility  of  the  soil,  the  growth  of  industries,  sweeter  homes  and 
more  serviceable  churches.  The  man  behind  the  plow  is  of  more 
concern  to  us  as  a  nation  than  the  man  behind  the  gun.  A 
2 


34  CONFERENCE  FOR  EDUCATION. 

learned  Japanese  recently  witnessed  a  splendid  procession  in 
Baltimore,  and  he  declared  that  the  feature  that  impressed  him 
most  was  the  long  line  of  street-cleaners,  dressed  in  spotless 
white,  who  received  the  heartiest  recognition  from  the  ladies 
that  lined  the  street.  The  Greeks  who  have  come  to  our  coun- 
try have  lifted  bootblacking  to  a  plane  of  dignity  and  profit. 

A  few  intelligent  men  in  South  Carolina,  by  wise  experi- 
ment, added  $10,000,000  in  two  years  to  the  value  of  the  corn 
crop  of  that  State.  Dr.  S.  A.  Knapp,  the  Benjamin  Franklin 
of  American  agriculture,  is  showing  in  his  net  work  of  demon- 
stration .farms  throughout  the  South  what  the  right  sort  of  ed- 
ucation can  do  for  the  homes,  the  industries  and  institutions  of 
our  country.  In  the  South  we  make  new  and  special  demands 
of  the  school,  since  our  tasks  are  peculiar  and  urgent,  such  as 
economic  development,  national  integration,  and  racial  adjust- 
ment. Love  as  well  as  light  is  here  a  social  necessity.  .  We  lock 
to  the  school  to  beget  kindliness  between  neighbors,  regardless 
of  color  or  creed. 

.MD:;AT,  ix  IDEAL. 

The  school  is  surcharged  with  moral  forces.  You  cannot 
measure  its  projectile  power  in  American  life.  The  school  is 
more  than  a  "moral  policeman."  It  enriches  the  heart,  vital- 
izes the  will,  ancl  makes  the  conscience  responsive  to  duty.  We 
are  governed  not  by  law,  but  by  respect  for  law.  This  reverence 
for  the  majesty  of  the  law  is  one  of  the  finest  products  of  the 
American  school.  Every  device  in  our  modern  civilization  is 
the  outcome  of  millenniums  of  human  struggle  and  sacrifice. 
Every  factor,  therefore,  in  our  social  life  is  sacred,  being  sealed 
with  the  blood  of  martyrs  and  prophets.  Instances  of  this  are 
our  coinage,  taxation,  tbe  family,  the  church  and  government. 
While  all  of  these  are  the  results  of  the  birth-throes  of  the 
human  spirit,  perhaps  the  costliest  single  product  of  man's 
long  labor  is  reverence  for  law.  The  heinousness  of  lynching 
is  seen  just  here,  in  that  such  an  act  strikes  down  dead  a  senti- 
ment in  the  hreast  of  man  that  it  has  taken  ages  upon  ages  to 
evolve.  The  school  stands  frr  the  majesty  <;f  law.  Xo 


DR.  MITCHELL.  35 

wonder  that  the  American  spirit  in  education  is  optimistic,  self- 
reliant,  buoyant  with  hope,  since  it  is  energizing  such  moral 
forces  in  the  child  and  community  as  love  of  peace,  kindliness 
toward  one's  neighbi  r.  synn^thy  for  the  weak,  respect  for  law, 
faith  in  truth,  tolerance  in  (-pinion  and  reverence  for  humanity. 
The  State,  through  the  schorl,  seeks  to  impress  this  ideal  of  life 
upon  the  mind  of  the  rising  generation. 

"O  world  as  God  has  made  it,  all   is  beauty, 
And  knowing  this  is  love,  and  love  is  duty." 


SECOND  SESSION, 
THURSDAY  MORNING,  APRIL  15,  1909. 


MR.  OODKX  —  The  program  this  morning  indicates  the  na- 
ture of  what  is  before  us.  This  session  belongs  to  the  Associa- 
tion of  State  Superintendents  of  Education.  Therefore,  it  is 
my  pleasure  to  deliver  the  meeting  over  to  the  president  of  that 
association.  J.  Y.  Joyner.  of  Xorth  Carolina.  I  present  Super- 
intendent Joyner. 

MR.  JOYKER. 

Before  we  begin  I  want  to  issue  an  order.  I  have  not  my 
"Big  Stick,"  but  I  am  president  of  the  association.  I  want  to 
ask  all  State  Superintendents  to  take  seats  on  the  rostrum  be- 
fore we  begin.  I  wish  to  make  a  very  earnest  request  for  all 
ex-State  Superintendents  to  come  to  the  rostrum  and  sit  with  us. 

Ladies  and  Genii  m<  n : 

I  am  sure  that  it  is  the  consensus  of  opinion  among  the  mem- 
bers of  this  Association  of  State  Superintendents  that  the  work 
of  the  Southern  Education  Board  has  been  more  helpful  in 
making  possible  the  promotion  of  this  association  and  the  an- 
nual meeting  of  these  men  of  the  heads  of  the  departments  of 
education  in  the  various  Southern  States  than  any  other  force. 
Xobody  has  worked  everything  out  better  than  anybody  else. 


36  CONFERENCE  FOR  EDUCATION. 

but  somebody  has  worked  something  out  better  than  anybody 
else,  and  in  these  annual  gatherings  we  have  found  out  which 
of  these  Southern  State  Superintendents  has  worked  out  better 
than  anybody  else  any  one  of  our  educational  problems.  This 
meeting  is  an  exchange  of  helpful  experience. 

We  have  a  program  this  morning  witli  just  two  papers.  The 
first  will  be  a  report  of  educational  progress  of  the  year  in  the 
Southern  States.  This  will  necessarily  contain  statistics,  but 
it  will  also  contain  the  cream  of  the  educational  progress  in 
all  of  the  Southern  States  during  the  year.  I  sincerely  hope 
that  the  audience  will  give  careful  attention  to  this  paper.  It 
is  a  compilation  from  the  annual  reports  of  all  the  Superin- 
tendents of  all  the  Southern  States  of  the  year's  progress  and  it 
is  well  worth  your  careful  attention.  I  take  pleasure  in  intro- 
ducing Mr.  Jere  M.  Pound.  State  School  Commissioner  of  Geor- 
gia, who  will  discuss  the  "Educational  Progress  of  the  Year  in 
the  Southern  States." 


M.    IVrxn. 
Mr.  /'/•'  v  idnii  : 

Obedient  to  your  command  I  have  undertaken,  but.  as  you 
know,  under  protest,  to  summarixe  the  chief  educational  move- 
ments that  have  taken  place  in  the  fourteen  Southern  States 
during  the  past  year.  This  paper  is  a  brief.  Yet  it  is  very,  very 
long.  For  its  length  I  am  not  responsible.  It  could  not  well 
be  shorter.  And  its  form  has  been  determined  by  the  necessi- 
ties of  the  case. 

Permit  one  further  word  in  explanation.  I  have  taken  up 
tin-  States  in  alphabetical  order,  beginning  with  Alabama,  and 
hav«-  arranged  the  data,  as  far  as  possible,  under  the  following- 
heads:  1.  School  Revenue;  2.  High  Schools;  :>.  Rural  Libra- 
ries; 4.  School  Buildings  and  Equipment:  •">.  Training  of  Teach- 
ers; 6.  School  Legislation;  7.  Improvement  of  School  (iroiinds: 
8.  Supervision;  9.  Compulsory  Attendance.  As  far  as  p  •  ssi- 
ble  I  have  quoted  the  exact  language  of  tin-  Slate  Superintend- 
ents in  their  responses  to  my  request  for  data.  Without  further 
remarks,  then.  1  begin  with  a  State  that  is  doing  great  things 
in  an  educational  wav. 


JERE   M.  POUND.  37 

ALABAMA. 
HIGH  SCHOOLS. 

Superintendent  Harry  C.  Gunnels  says:  "We  now  have 
twenty-three  county  high  schools  in  active  operation,  but  thirty- 
four  county  high  schools  have  been  established.  The  cities  of 
Birmingham,  Mobile  and  Montgomery  have  spendid  high  schools, 
and  some  of  the  other  large  to\vns  of  Alabama  attempt  to  do 
high  school  work.  In  accordance  with  the  law  I  have  prepared 
a  course  of  study  of  four  years  for  these  schools,  which  course 
is  based  on  an  elementary  course  of  seven  years,  with  the  assist- 
ance of  two  competent  county  high  school  visitors  keeping  in 
close  touch  with  this  work  and  endeavoring  to  articulate  and 
correlate  these  schools  with  the  elementary  schools  and  the 
higher  institutions  of  the  State. 

RURAL  SCHOOLS. 

Under  the  rural  schoolhouse  law.  passed  on  March  2.  1907, 
$1,000  was  appropriated  annually  to  each  county  for  the  pur- 
pose of  repairing  and  erecting  schoolhouses.  Since  the  passage 
of  this  law  the  State  has  donated  to  the  rural  districts  of  the 
State,  for  the  purpose  of  repairing  and  erecting  schoolhouses, 
$99.595.52.  In  order  to  si-cure  an  appropriation  from  the  State 
it  is  necessary  for  the  local  people  to  raise  not  less  than  $200 
to  a  district  during  any  one  year.  Including  the  amount  do- 
nated by  the  State,  the  books  of  this  office  indicate  that  nearly 
$400,000  has  been  spent  for  repairing  and  erecting  school- 
hous'es  in  Alabama  since  March  2,  1907.  The  records  of  the  of- 
fice also  show  that  72  rural  schoolhouses  have  been  repaired 
and  435  rural  schoolhouses  have  been  erected.  For  every  school 
day  since  the  rural  schoolhouse  law  went  into  effect  there  have 
been  erected  or  repaired  more  than  two  rural  schoolhouses,  cost- 
ing not  less  than  $600  each.  We  have  six  white  normal  schools 
and  three  colored  normal  schools.  The  State  makes  an  appro- 
priation of  $5.000  for  a  summer  school  for  white  teachers  at 


38  CONFERENCE  FOR   EDUCATION. 

the  university  each  year.  The  normal  schools  and  summer 
school  are  well  attended  and  are  improving:  the  teaching  force 
of  the  State. 

'  >.VK  MILL  TAX. 

Our  Constitution  prohibits  local  taxation  by  districts,  but 
allows  every  county,  under  certain  conditions,  to  levy  a  one 
mill  county  tax  for  school  purposes,  provided  a  three-fifths  vote 
is  secured  for  the  tax.  Forty-two  of  the  sixty-seven  counties 
are  now  levying  the  tax.  This  special  county  tax  increased 
the  public  school  fund  this  year  $319,027.85. 

SCHOOL  IMPROVEMENT   \YORK. 

The  State  School  Improvement  Association,  organized  in 
December,  1907.  continues  to  do.  splendid  work.  Nearly  every 
county  in  the  State  has  an  organization,  and  there  are  hundreds 
of  local  and  city  organizations. 

While  this  work  is  under  the  general  supervision  of  the  De- 
partment of  Education,  the  good  women  have  special  charge  of 
the  work,  and  they  go  about  over  the  State  'increasing  interest 
in  school  buildings,  in  bettering  the  equipment,  in  making  the 
school  grounds  more  attractive,  and  in  causing  the  people,  lo- 
cally, to  take  a  general  interest  in  educational  affairs.  I  cannot 
say  too  much  in  praise  of  the  work  accomplished  by  the  State 
School  Improvement  Association. 

GENERAL  STATISTICS. 

The  biennial  report  for  the  year  1907-8  is  yet  in  the  hands 
of  the  printer,  and  for  this  reason  it  would  probably  not  be 
amiss  for  me  to  give  you  some  Alabama  statistics.  The  school 
age  in  Alabama  is  from '  7  to  21  years,  and  according  to  the 
school  census,  taken  last  July,  there  are  687,274  children  of 
school  age,  380.042  are  white,  and  307.232  ;nv  colored.  During 
the  year  1907-8,  386.478  w.-iv  enrolled,  and  258,998  of  these 
were  white  and  127.480  were  colored.  Tin-  average  daily  at- 
tendance was  249.( LSI),  the  whites  being  162.937  and  the  colored 


JERE   M.  POUND.  39 

86,093.  The  average  length  of  public  school  term  for  whites 
was  123  days ;  for  colored,  95  days.  The  average  monthly  sal- 
aries were  as  follows: 

White    males    $57  03 

White    females    43  85 

Colored    males    28  23 

Colored    females    .  .   23  37 


The  value  of  the  public  schoolhouses  for  whites  is  $4,003,599; 
for  colore.d,  $303,210,  making  a  total  of  $4,306,809.  The  esti- 
mated value  of  the  public  school  libraries  is,  for  whites,  $32,860 ; 
for  colored,  $2,705.  making  a  total  of  $35,565.  There  are  7,757 
public  school  teachers  actively  engaged  in  teaching  in  Alabama, 
and  of  this  number  5,740  are  white  and  2,017  are  colored.  The 
available  public  school  fund  for  the  year  ending  September  30, 
1908,  was  as  follows  : 

Balance  on   hand   from   previous   year $      80,835  63 

State    appropriation    1,454,961  97 

Poll    tax     133,299  39 

Special   county    tax    319,027  85 

Appropriated   by  towns  and  cities 165,586  51 

From  all   other  sources 213,950  63 


Total $2,367,661  98 


In  the  above  statistics  I  do  not  include  the  agricultural 
schools,  normal  schools,  or  any  of  our  State  colleges. 

EDUCATIONAL  NEEDS. 

While  we  need  compulsory  education,  public  school  classifi- 
cation and  an  amendment  to  the  Constitution  allowing  local  tax- 
ation by  districts,  I  think  the  greatest  and  paramount  need  in 
Alabama  is  a  qualified  county  superintendency.  "\Ye  made  a 
fight  for  this  at  the  last  meeting  of  the  Legislature  and  lost  by 
a  vote  of  37  to  55.  AYe  propose  now  to  take  the  matter  directly 
to  the  people,  and  we  are  trying  by  speeches  and  correspondence 
to  mold  public  sentiment." 


40  CONFERENCE  FOR  EDUCATION. 

ARKANSAS. 

I  feel  that  I  am  hardly  doing  the  State  of  Arkansas  justice, 
but  I  am  giving  the  exact  language  of  the  State  Superintend- 
ent's report  to  me. 

Supt.  George  B.  Cook  writes :  ' '  There  are  now  some  300 
special  school  districts  in  Arkansas,  most  of  which  are  attempt- 
ing more  or  less  high  school  work,  but  only  about  ten  are  doing 
the  full  four  years'  work,  according  to  the  standard  of  the  Gen- 
eral Education  Board.  However,  B.  W.  Torreyson  has  been 
appointed  Professor  of  Secondary  Education  and  will  begin  his 
work  of  correlating  and  standardizing  the  high  schools  this 
summer. 

There  has  been  considerable  activity  for  libraries,  ground 
improvement,  etc.,  through  the  School  Improvement  Association, 
of  which  nearly  100  societies  have  been  organized,  largely 
through  the  campaign  organized  by  this  department. 

A  constitutional  amendment,  which  became  effective  in  1907, 
raised  the  State  tax  for  school  purposes  from  2  to  3  mills,  and 
permits  a  local  tax  of  7  mills. 

There  is  a  permissive  act  by  which  counties  may,  upon  pop- 
ular vote,  decide  to  have  a  County  Superintendent,  but  the  Leg- 
islature is  now  considering  an  amendment  to  make  the  opera- 
tion of  this  law  mandatory.  A  bill  for  compulsory  attendance 
is  before  the  Legislature;  also,  for  State  uniformity  of  text- 
books and  for  a  State  Board  of  Education." 

I  may  add,  from  knowledge  gained  on  the  side,  as  it  were, 
that  recently,  at  a  gathering  of  nearly  1,000  members  of  the 
Farmers'  Union,  a  resolution  demanding  compulsory  education 
for  Arkansas  was  unanimously  passed  after  a  speech  upon  that 
subject  by  the  national  president  of  that  association.  Since  the 
above  was  written,  only  day  before  yesterday  in  fact,  the  Leg- 
islature passed  a  State-wide  law. 

The  State  Normal  School  of  Arkansas  opened  its  doors  for 
its  first  year's  work  at  Conway  on  September  21  of  last  year 
and  is  now  closing  a  very  satisfactory  year's  work. 

The  Legislature  now  in  session  has  given  $160,000  for  the 
establishment  of  four  secondary  agricultural  schools. 


JERE  M.  POUND.  41 

9 

FLORIDA. 
SCHOOL  REVENTKS. 

The  Land  of  Flowers  is  likewise  a  land  of  educational  prog- 
ress. Supt.  Holloway  writes:  "The  State  school  fund,  the  in- 
terest of  which  shall  be  exclusively  applied  to  the  support  and 
maintenance  of  public  free  schools,  shall  be  derived  from  the 
following  sources :  The  proceeds  of  all  lands  that  have  been, 
or  may  hereafter  be.  granted  to  the  State  by  the  United  States 
for  public  school  purposes. 

Donations  to  the  State  when  the  purpose  is  not  specified. 
Appropriations  by  the  State. 

The  proceeds  of  escheated  property  or  forfeitures. 
Twenty-five  per  cent  of  the  sales  of  public  lands  which  are 

now.  or  may  hereafter  be,  owned  by  the  State. 

The  principal  of  the  State  school  fund  shall  remain  sacred 
and  inviolate. 

A  special  tax  of  1  mill  on  the  dollar  of  all  taxable  property 
in  the  State,  in  addition  to  the  other  means  provided,  shall  be 
levied  and  apportioned  annually  for  the  support  and  mainte- 
nance of  public  free  schools. 

Each  county  shall  be  required  to  assess  and  collect  annually, 
for  the  support  of  public  free  schools  therein,  a  tax  of  not  less 
than  3  mills,  nor  more  than  7  mills  on  the  dollar  of  all  taxable 
property  in  the  same. 

The  county  school  fund  shall  consist,  in  addition  to  the 
tax  already  mentioned,  of  the  proportion  of  the  interest  of  the 
State  school  fund  and  of  the  1  mill  State  tax  apportioned  to 
the  county :  all  capitation  taxes  collected  within  the  county :  the 
net  proceeds  of  all  fines  collected  under  the  penal  laws  of  the 
State  within  the  county,  and  shall  be  disbursed  by  the  County 
Board  of  Public  Instruction  solely  for  the  maintenance  and 
support  of  public  free  schools. 

There  are  in  operation  about  five  hundred  special  tax  school 
districts  and  the  amount  of  money  annually  derived  from  the 
same  is  about  $200,000.  The  total  receipts  for  all  school  pur- 


42  CONFERENCE  FOR  EDUCATION. 

• 

poses  in  the  State  of  Florida  for  the  scholastic  year  ending 
June  30,  1908,  was  $1,657,975.45. 

HIGH  SCHOOLS. 

The  annual  reports  of  the  County  Superintendents  of  Pub- 
lic Instruction  for  the  period  ending  June  30,  1908,  showed  that 
during  the  school  year,  for  which  these  reports  are  made,  there 
were  operated  forty-one  senior  high  schools,  seventy-five  junior 
high  schools  and  forty-one  rural  graded  schools,  being  a  total 
of  157  schools.  The  amount  of  aid  from  the  State  for  the  main- 
tenance of  these  schools  was  $59,800.  The  total  amount  appro- 
priated by  the  Legislature  for  the  purpose  mentioned  above  was 
$65,000,  leaving  an  unexpended  balance  of  5,200. 

LIBRARIES. 

The  county  being  the  unit  in  the  Florida  school  system,  the 
Legislature  has  made  no  appropriation  for  the  establishment 
and  maintenance  of  libraries,  but  this  is  a  matter  which  is  left 
to  the  county  boards  of  public  instruction  for  direction.  Under 
this  plan  great  advancement  has  been  made,  but  I  am  of  the 
opinion  that  it  would  be  wise  for  the  State  to  assume  at  least 
partial  control  and  direction  of  so  important  a  matter. 

SCHOOL  IMPROVEMENT  WORK. 

On  account  of  the  increased  activity  of  the  County  Super- 
intendents of  Public  Instruction,  aided  by  the  various  organi- 
zations of  the  women,  great  good  has  been  accomplished  in  the 
improvement  of  school  grounds.  ' 

COMPULSORY  ATTENDANCE. 

The  sentiment  for  compulsory  attendance  upon  the  public 
schools  is  growing,  but  I  am  of  the  opinion  that  the  only  way 
to  solve  this  problem  is  by  the  enactment  of  a  county  optional 
attendance  law.  The  State  Convention  of  County  Superintend- 
ents and  other  school  officers,  which  was  held  last  week,  quite 
unanimously  endorsed  a  law  of  this  character. 


JERE   M.  POUND.  43 

SUPERVISION. 

Under  the  law  enacted  by  the  Legislature  of  1907,  regulating 
the  salaries  of  County  Superintendents  of  Public  Instruction, 
there  has  been  a  very  marked  increase  in  the  average  salary  of 
these  officials,  the  average  annual  salary  being  now  about  $1,200. 
This  has  been  the  means  of  securing  more  competent  officials 
in  nearly  every  instance.  Consequently,  the  work  of  school  su- 
pervision has  received  great  impetus. 

TEACHER   TRAINING. 

In  addition  to  the  courses  for  the  training  of  teachers,  of- 
fered by  the  various  normal  departments  of  the  private  institu- 
tions, there  are  normal  departments  maintained  by  the  Univer- 
sity of  the  State  of  Florida,  the  Florida  Female  College  for  white 
teachers,  and  the  Colored  Normal  for  colored  teachers.  For  the 
special  training  of  teachers,  in  addition  to  the  efforts  already 
mentioned,  there  are  conducted  each  year,  for  a  period  of  six  or 
eight  weeks,  teachers'  summer  training  schools  at  the  University 
of  the  State  of  Florida,  the  Florida  Female  College  and  the 
Colored  Normal  School. 

S./HOOL    BriLDING>. 

Within  the  last  year  there  has  been  a  general  awakening 
among  the  people  along  the  line  of  better  school  buildings. 
During  the  scholastic  year.  1906-7.  there  was  spent  for  new 
buildings  the  sum  of  £139.791.43.  and  for  the  scholastic  year 
1907-8,  $188,062.46. 

SCHOOL  LEGISLATION. 

The  State  Convention  of  County  Superintendents  and  other 
school  officers,  which  closed  its  session  last  week,  quite  unani- 
mously endorsed  bills  providing  for  legislation  along  the  follow- 
ing lines :  Libraries,  high  schools,  certification  of  teachers, 
county  uniformity  of  text-books,  investments  of  principal  of 
State  school  fund  in  certain  county  securities,  as  well  as  in 
State  and  federal  securities,  teachers'  pensions,  teachers'  sum- 
mer training  schools,  etc." 


44  CONFERENCE  FOR  EDUCATION. 

GEORGIA. 
SCHOOL  REVENUKS. 

The  school  revenues  for  Georgia,  for  the  fiscal  year  ending 
January  1,  1909,  were  as  follows: 

Balance   from   preceding   year $    184,069  86 

Local    tax 1,195,315  37 

Other    sources    412,033  89 

State   appropriation    2,000,000  00 


Total $3,791,419  12 


This  is  an  increase  of  about  $700,000  over  what  was  reported 
in  1908. 

The  State  appropriation,  divided  among  703,000  children, 
according  to  the  census  of  1903,  gave  a  per  capita  of  $2.82^>. 
If  the  entire  sum  expended  on  common  schools  had  been  equally 
distributed  it  would  have  increased  the  per  capita  to  about  $5. 
The  State's  appropriation  for  the  current  year  is  $2,250,000, 
an  increase  of  a  quarter  of  a  million  dollars  over  the  appropria- 
tion for  1908.  The  per  capita  for  this  year  from  the  legislative 
appropriation  alone  is  3.046  for  736,000  children.  This  is  the 
high- water  mark  of  State  aid  to  the  common  schools  in  Georgia, 
and  local  taxation  and  other  revenues  will  increase  during  the 
year  in  like  proportion.  In  addition  to  this  the  Legislature,  at 
its  session  last  summer,  gave  to  the— 

State  College  of  Agriculture  for  maintenance  for  1908 $  55,000  00 

State  College  of  Agriculture  for  maintenance  for  1909 50,000  00 

The  University  of  Georgia  for  repairs 10,000  00 

The   State   Normal   School 22,000  00 

The  Georgia  Normal  and  Industrial  College • 22,671  76 

The    Technological    School 5,000  00 

To  eleven  district  agricultural  schools,  approximately 77,500  00 


Total $242,171  76 


Except  in  the  case  of  the  agricultural  schools,  these  sums 
were  in  addition  to  a  liberal  maintenance  for  two  years,  which 


JERE   M.  POUND.  45 

had  been  granted  at  the  previous  session.     All  this — and  it  was 
not  a  good  session  for  appropriations  either! 

HIGH  SCHOOLS. 

In  Georgia  there  are  now  109  schools  having  credit  relations 
with  the  University  of  Georgia.  Forty-five  others  have  applied 
for  such  recognition  and  are  awaiting  inspection.  There  are, 
moreover  some  thirty  or  forty  high  schools  in  the  Mercer  (Bap- 
tist) system  and  the  Methodist  Conference  system,  some  of  which 
are  well  supported  and  endowed  institutions,  doing  excellent 
work.  Perhaps  there  are  as  many  uncorrelated,  unattached  and 
unstandardized  schools  as  I  have  enumerated,  doing  more  or 
less  work  of  secondary  grade.  To  all  these  must  be  added  the 
eleven  district  agricultural  high  schools,  which  began  operations 
seriously  last  fall.  All  told,  then,  there  must  be  in  Georgia 
some  three  hundred  institutions  well  within  the  limits  of  a  junior 
high  school,  and  these  in  spite  of  a  Constitution  which  almost 
prohibits  State  aid  to  schools  of  this  rank. 

LIBRARIES. 

There  are  in  Georgia  nineteen  local  tax  counties  which  re- 
port 176  libraries  containing  31,875  volumes  worth  $21,008.50; 
127  nonlocal  tax  counties,  which  report  733  libraries,  containing 
60,348  volumes  worth  $34.895,  and  local  city  or  town  systems, 
which  report  72  libraries,  containing  38,589  volumes  worth  $20,- 
265,  making  a  total  for  the  common  school  system,  imperfectly 
reported,  many  reports  being  missing,  of  981  libraries,  contain- 
ing 130,809  v<  limits  worth  $76.168.50. 

In  addition  to  the  above,  about  one-half  of  the  high  schools 
report  86  libraries,  containing  about  43,190  volumes  worth  $51,- 
052.30.  Doubling  this  number  for  unreported  schools,  which 
is  less  than  fair,  the  high  schools  would  have  172  libraries,  con- 
taining about  86,000  volumes  worth  about  $100,000. 

This,  in  turn,  added  to  the  reports  of  the  common  schools 
would  give  us  for  the  grade  and  high  schools  of  the  State  1,153 
libraries,  containing  217.250  volumes  worth  about  $175,000  or 
$200,000. 


46  CONFERENCE  FOR   EDI/CATION. 

This  is  an  increase  of  more  than  50^-  in  both  the  number  of 
books  and  their  value,  as  reported  last  year,  and  is  a  great  un- 
derestimate, due  to  the  difficulty  in  wetting  correct  reports,  or, 
indeed,  any  reports  at  all. 

SCHOt  I.    BriEDIXGS    AND    EQUIPMENT. 

During  1908  there  were  built  291  schoolhouses  at  a  total 
cost  of  $614,398.  This  was  a  falling  off  from  the  report  of  1907 
of  seven  buildings,  but  an  increase  in  value  of  about  $208,000, 
the  average  value  of  buildings  constructed  during  the  year 
being  more  than  $2,000.  During  1908.  also,  there  were  repaired 
462  buildings  at  a  cost  of  $63,931.  About  $700,000  were  spent, 
then,  on  buildings  and  repairs  last  year :  and,  as  our  school  term 
was  about  five  and  three-fourths  months  long  on  an  average, 
nearly  two  and  one-half  houses  were  built  each  school  day  and 
four  repaired.  The  total  number  of  schoolhouses  belonging  to 
county  boards  of  education,  as  reported  this  year,  is  2.529  and 
worth  $3,098,105.  The  average  value  of  these  houses  is  about. 
$1,225  This  is  all  rural  property  and  does  not  include  twice  as 
many  houses  used  by  these  boards  for  school  purposes.  The  total 
value  of  other  property,  including  school  and  office  furniture, 
and  apparatus,  is  $588,836. 

AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION". 

On  the  first  of  January  the  State  College  of  Agriculture 
opened  the  doors  of  its  magnificent  $100,000  building  and  dom- 
iciled itself  there  permanently.  During  the  fall  of  1908  the 
eleven  district  agricultural  colleges  began  serious  work,  with 
about  750  students  in  attendance.  The  plants  of  these  schools 
are  worth  from  one-half  to  three-fourths  of  a  million  dollars. 
In  addition  to  this,  one  of  our  normal  schr.ols  established  a 
chair  of  agriculture,  and  ji  part  of  the  training  of  the  teachers 
in  this  institution  is  practical  kitchen  gardening. 


JERE  M.  POUND.  47 

SCHOOL  IMPROVEMENT. 

School  improvement  goes  on  apace  in  Georgia.  Under  the 
leadership  of  Mrs.  Walter  B.  Hill  a  great  number  of  local  so- 
cieties have  been  formed  and  much  telling  work  done.  Then, 
too.  much  credit  is  due  the  various  branches  of  the  Federation 
of  Women's  Clubs  for  their  interest  in  this  work  and  in  all 
work  for  the  betterment  of  educational  facilities. 

TEACHER  TRAINING. 

Georgia  maintains  two  normal  schools,  which  enroll  annually 
approximately  1.000  students:  and  it  probably  is  now  an  open 
secret  that  the  university  contemplates  erecting  a  $50,000  build- 
ing at  an  early  date  and  expanding  its  pedagogical  department 
into  a  well  equipped  school  of  pedagogy.  In  addition,  institutes 
are  held  in  each  county  every  year,  and  the  State  appropriates 
$5,000  annually  for  a  summer  school  at  the  university,  the 
sessions  of  which  are  attended  by  more  than  500  teachers. 

SCHOOL  LEGISLATION. 

There  was  no  legislation  affecting  the  schools  during  1908, 
although  much  is  needed  to  unfetter  them  and  let  them  grow, 
as  they  are  ready  to  clo.  An  unfavorable  Constitution,  and 
inane,  antiquated  laws,  rooted  in  the  intense  conservatism  of 
our  people,  is  the  bane  of  Georgia's  school  systems. 

COMPULSORY  EDUCATION. 

We  have  no  State-wide  compulsory  law.  One  county,  Rich- 
mond, has  a  "near"  law.  But  sentiment  for  compulsory  edu- 
cation is  rife,  and  becoming  rampant  in  certain  quarters.  The 
next  Legislature,  which  meets  during  the  summer,  will  be  called 
upon  to  consider  the  subject :  and  it  is  as  certain  as  anything 
of  that  nature  can  be,  that  within  the  next  few  years  every 
child  in  Georgia  will  have  of  necessity  to  take  the  opportunities 
provided  for  him  by  the  State. 


48  CONFERENCE  FOR  EDUCATION. 

KENTUCKY. 

Perhaps  in  no  State  in  the  Union  has  there  been  such  an  ed- 
ucational upheaval  as  in  Kentucky  during:  the  last  twelve 
mouths. 

SCHOOL  LEGISLATION. 

The  last  Legislature  passed  two  bills  of  note,  namely,  the 
County  School  District  Law  and  the  Educational  Commission 
Law.  The  first  of  these  requires  "every  county  to  be  subdivided 
into  not  less  than  four,  nor  more  than  eight,  subdivisions.  Each 
subdivision  is,  in  turn,  subdivided  into  school  districts,  and  the 
law  expressly  provides  that  these  districts  shall  be  made  with 
reference  to  the  white  children  of  the  State.  One  trustee  is 
elected  in  each  district,  and  the  trustees  in  each  subdivision 
constitute  a  division  board. 

They  organize  and  elect  a  chairman  and  secretary,  and  this 
division  board  will  elect  school  teachers  in  their  districts  and 
control  all  the  schools  in  those  districts.  The  chairman  of  each 
division  becomes  ex-officio  member  of  the  County  Board  of  Edu- 
cation, of  which  board  the  County  Superintendent  is  chairman. 

SCHOOL  REVENUES. 

Under  the  County  School  District  Law  the  local  taxes,  since 
July  1,  have  been  greatly  augmented  in  nearly  every  county 
of  the  State.  Prior  to  the  adoption  of  the  law  no  county  tax 
whatever  was  levied.  The  maximum  limit  under  the  new  law  is 
20  cents  on  each  $100  of  assessed  valuation  of  property. 

Fully  one-half  of  the  counties  of  the  State  have  levied  the 
maximum  limit,  and  scarcely  a  county  has  levied  less  than  10 
cents. 

SCHOOL  IMPROVE  MI:  NT. 

Since  the  15th  day  of  August  hundreds  of  schools  through- 
out the  State  have  been  consolidated  and  larger  districts  formed. 
Under  the  old  law  there  was  no  minimum  number  of  pupils  in  the 
district.  Under  the  new  law  no  district  shall  contain  fewer  than 


JERE   M.  POUND.  49 

forty  pupil  children,  and  consolidation  and  transportation  may 
be  provided  for.  In  several  counties  of'  the  State  plans  are  on 
foot  already  for  transportation  of  the  pupils. 

HIGH  SCHOOLS. 

This  law  requires  the  establishment  of  one  or  more  county 
high  schools  in  each  county  of  the  State.  These  high  schools 
must  be  established  during  the  next  year  and  must  conform  to 
the  course  of  study  prepared  by  the  State  Board  of  Education. 
By  these  high  schools,  with  uniform  courses  of  study,  we  are 
enabled  to  make  the  course  in  the  grades  uniform  throughout, 
thereby  giving  a  unified  system  from  the  grades  to  the  State 
university. 

EDUCATIONAL  COMMISSION. 

The  duty  of  the  Educational  Commission,  as  stated  in  the 
act  creating  it.  is  "to  make  a  thorough  investigation  of  the 
whole  school  system  and  all  the  educational  interests  of  Ken- 
tucky, and  the  laws  under  which  the  same  are  organized  and 
operated;  to  make  a  comparative  study  of  such  other  school  sys- 
tems as  may  seem  advisable,  and  to  submit  to  the  next  Gen- 
eral Assembly  a  report  embracing  such  suggestions,  recommen- 
dations, revisions,  additions,  corrections  and  amendments  as  the 
commission  shall  deem  necessary."  This  commission  is  already 
at  work  and  hopes  to  be  able  to  present  to  the  General  Assembly 
of  1910  a  code  which  shall  be  simple,  modern  and  suited  to  Ken- 
tucky's peculiar  conditions. 

COMPULSORY  EDUCATION. 

""We  have/'  says  Supt.  Crab,  "for  the  current  year  for  the 
first  time  a  compulsory  school  law  that  really  compels.  It  is 
applicable  only  to  the  cities  of  the  first,  second,  third  and  fourth 
classes,  or  to  all  with  a  population  of  more  than  three  thousand. 
This  has  largely  increased  the  attendance  in  all  the  cities.  No 
increase  in  the  rural  schools.  No  increase  has  been  made  in  the 
length  of  the  average  term. 


50  CONFERENCE  FOR  EDUCATION. 

STATE  INSTITUTIONS. 

What  was  known  as  the  State  College  at  Lexington  was 
changed  into  the  State  University  by  legislative  enactment 
(1908).  Kentucky  maintains  two  normal  schools  which  were 
established  in  1906.  One  in  the  eastern  district  is  located  at 
Richmond,  and  the  one  in  the  western  district  is  located  at  Bow- 
ling Green.  Under  the  law  establishing  State  normal  schools 
each  county  is  entitled  to  one  or  more  appointments  of  scholar- 
ships. 

The  recent  General  Assembly  appropriated  $200,000  to  the 
State  University  for  new  buildings  and  improvements,  and  $150,- 
000  to  each  of  the  State  normals  for  a  like  purpose,  and  made 
additional  appropriations  for  the  maintenance  of  all  these  in- 
stitutions. 

A  Kentucky  Normal  and  Industrial  School  for  colored  per- 
sons is  maintained,  and  is  located  at  Frankfort.  The  1908  ses- 
sion of  the  Legislature  appropriated  $40,000  for  the  erection  of 
new  buildings  and  for  equipment. 

CENSUS  REPORT. 

The  census  report  for  the  year  1908-9  shows  a  school  popu- 
lation of  739,352,  of  which  587,051  were  reported  for  the  rural 
districts.  The  latest  statistics  of  enrollment  which  have  been 
compiled  is  for  the  school  year  1907-8.  The  enrollment  was 
441,377  and  the  average  attendance  260,843.  For  that  year  the 
census  report  was  734,617.  During  the  same  school  year  there 
were  approximately  3,392  male  and  5,257  female  white  teachers 
and'  1,274  colored  teachers.  The  total  revenue  for  school  pur- 
poses that  year  amounted  to  $3,805,997.01 ;  of  this  sum,  $2,437,- 
942.55  came  from  the  State  treasury. 

CAMPAIGN. 

We  inaugurated  in  Kentucky  the  "Whirlwind  Campaign," 
which  began  on  November  28,  and  swept  over  the  State.  For 
eight  days  some  twenty-five  of  the  most  prominent  educators 


JERE   M.  POUND.  51 

and  best  speakers  in  the  State  placed  themselves  at  the  disposal 
of  the  Superintendent :  sacrificed  time,  comfort  and  talent  to 
preach  the  gospel  of  education  in  every  one  of  the  119  counties 
of  the  State.  From  two  to  three  speeches  were  made  in  each 
county,  and  the  "Whirlwind  Campaign,"  as  it  was  called,  seems 
to  have  been  a  great  success.  Everywhere  interested  audiences, 
and  in  many  places  large  crow7 ds  greeted  the  speakers,  and  re- 
ports from  every  portion  of  the  field  indicate  increased  enthu- 
siasm and  far  reaching  results.  Kentucky  is  awake  at  last  and 
determined  not  to  be  outstripped  by  her  sisters  of  the  South  in 
the  march  of  human  progress,  or  even  to  take  much  of  their 
dust. ' ' 

LOUISIANA. 
HIGH  SCHOOLS. 

And  now  comes  the  Creole  State.  Supt.  Harris  says:  "We 
have  seventy  accredited  high  schools  in  this  State.  The  courses 
of  study,  laboratory,  daily  schedules,  etc.,  are  under  the  super- 
vision of  the  State  Board  of  Education.  They  are  visited  regu- 
larly by  the  State  High  School  Visitor,  who  gives  all  of  his 
time  to  this  class  of  work. 

We  have  no  compulsory  attendance  in  this  State. 

LABORATORY 

In  every  high  school  of  the  State  new  laboratories  for  the 
science  work  have  been  installed.  This  requirement  has  been 
only  recently  passed  by  the  State  Board,  and  any  school  wishing 
recognition  must  purchase  the  necessary  amount  of  laboratory 
equipment  and  have  it  approved  by  the  State  Department  be- 
fore it  can  gain  the  desired  recognition. 

LIBRARIES. 

Under  our  law  any  room  or  school  which  raises  as  much  as 
$10  has  the  right  to  call  upon  the  parish  board  for  an  additional 
$10,  the  money  to  be  used  in  buying  a  library  for  the  room  or 
school.  After  the  librarv  has  been  established,  a  room  or  school 


52  CONFERENCE  FOB  EDUCATION. 

which  raises  $15  has  the  right  to  call  upon  the  parish  board  for 
an  additional  $5,  this  money  to  be  used  in  adding  to  the  library 
already  established.  This  law  has  given  a  wonderful  stimulus 
to  the  library  movement  in  the  State,  and  I  think  it  safe  to  say 
that  most  of  the  public  schools  of  Louisiana  have  libraries,  con- 
taining at  least  a  few  good  books  suited  to  the  advancement  of 
the  children  in  the  schools. 

SCHOOL  REVENUES. 

The  schools  receive  1  13-20  mills  from,  the  State.  Each  po- 
lice jury  is  required  to  devote  as  much  as  3  mills  of  the  parish 
taxes  to  the  public  schools.  All  of  the  poll  taxes  are  turned 
over  to  the  school  boards;  fines  and  forfeitures  and  interest  on 
money  realized  from  sixteenth  sections,  and  certain  other  moneys 
are  also  devoted  to  the  use  of  the  public  schools.  Probably  more 
money  is  realized  from  special  taxes  voted  by  parishes,  wards, 
or  other  school  districts  for  the  purpose  of  improving  or  main- 
taining their  schools,  than  from  any  other  source. 

TEACHER  TRAINING. 

We  have  one  State  Normal  School,  the  purpose  of  which  is  to 
train  teachers  for  work  in  the  public  schools.  There  is  a  teach- 
ers' training  department  in  the  State  University,  located  at 
Baton  Rouge;  in  Tulane  University,  located  at  New  Orleans; 
a  normal  school  situated  in  New  Orleans  and  maintained  by 
the  school  board  of  that  parish.  Graduates  of  certain  other  in- 
stitutions are  permitted  to  teach,  provided  they  pass  an  exami- 
nation in  the  Theory  and  Art  of  Teaching. 

SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  EQUIPMENT. 

School  districts  have  the  right,  under  our  law,  to  vote  special 
taxes,  to  be  used  in  building,  equipping  and  maintaining  schools. 
Under  this  law  our  people  are  constantly  putting  up  adequate 
buildings  and  equipping  them  with  comfortable  furniture. 


JERE  M.  POUND.  53 

IMPROVEMENT  OF  SCHOOL  GROUNDS. 

There  is  a  State  School  Improvement  League,  which  has 
branches  in  every  parish  in  the  State.  These  organizations  are 
devoting  a  great  deal  of  attention  to  the  improvement  of  school 
grounds,  schoolhouses,  etc. 

SUPERVISION. 

Candidates  for  the  position  of  parish  superintendent  are  re- 
quired to  pass  an  examination  upon  the  subjects  of  the  Theory 
and  Art  of  Teaching,  School  Administration  and  School  Super- 
vision. These  superintendents  devote  their  entire  time  to  school 
work  in  their  respective  parishes.  In  the  high  schools  the  prin- 
cipals are  required  to  devote  two  periods  of  forty  minutes  each 
to  this  work  of  supervision. 

MISSISSIPPI. 
HIGH  SCHOOLS. 

Mississippi,  in  her  modesty,  has  been  unjust  to  herself  but 
kind  to  the  audience.  Her  annals  are  brief — not  so  her  progress. 
According  to  Supt.  Powers:  "The  last  Legislature  of  Missis- 
sippi, which  adjourned  the  latter  part  of  last  April,  passed  an 
Agricultural  High  School  Bill,  which  provides  a  high  school 
of  this  kind  for  each  county,  the  State  appropriating  $1,000  for 
each,  the  balance  to  be  raised  by  local  taxation.  About  fifteen 
counties  are  preparing  to  take  advantage  of  this  measure— build- 
ings now  in  process  of  erection,  etc.  The  bill  requires  each 
county  to  donate  at  least  twenty-acres  of  land,  a  school  building 
and  a  dormitory  to  accommodate  at  least  forty  boarders.  We 
believe  here  that  this  act  of  the  Legislature  will  be  more  far 
reaching  in  benefiting  our  educational  system  than  any  measure 
ever  passed.  The  regular  high  schools  are  being  built  through- 
out the  State.  About  twelve  commodious  brick  structures  have 
been  erected  within  the  past  six  months. 


54  CONFERENCE  I-'»>R  EDI-CATIOX. 

LIBRARIES. 

Our  library  law.  which  Drives  a  school  $10  when  the  school 
raises  an  equal  amount,  has  begun  the  building  of  librarias  in 
hundreds  of  our  rural  schools. 

SCHOOL  REVENTES. 

Our  State  appropriates  a  million  and  a  quarter  dollars  direct 
from  its  treasury,  while  the  poll  tax  is  retained  in  the  county 
in  addition.  In  addition  to  this,  we  have  our  Sixteenth  Section 
Fund,  Chickasaw  School  Fund,  etc. 

TEACHER  TRAINING. 

This  is  our  weak  point.  Our  State  has  no  training  school. 
The  departments  of  education  at  the  State  institutions  are  doing 
splendid  work,  but  they  are  able  to  furnish  but  a  small  per  cent 
of  trained  teachers  for  our  schools. 

IMPROVEMENT  OF  SCHOOL  GROUNDS. 

We  are  planning  to  put  a  strong  woman  in  the  field  to  push 
our  school  improvement  work.  While  the  association  has  done 
good  work  it  has  been  much  hampered  for  lack  of  funds. 

SUPERVISION. 

Our  county  superintendents,  as  a  whole,  are  very  efficient. 
They  have  organized  corn  clubs,  domestic  science  clubs  and 
school  improvement  associations  in  more  than  thirty  counties. 


NORTH  CAROLINA. 

All  the  world  knows  what  wonderful  strides  the  State  of 
North  Carolina  has  been  making  with  her  "seven  league  boots" 
during  the  last  few  years,  under  the  leadership  of  a  brilliant 
galaxy  of  young  educational  statesmen.  I  should  like  to  quote 
Supt.  Joyner's  report  in  full,  but  both  time  and  space  forbid: 


JERE   M.  POUND. 


SCHOOL  REVENUES. 


55 


Total  available  school   fund $3,294,231  70 

Raised  by  general  State  and  county  taxation 2,643,492  50 

Raised   by  special   local   taxation 650,739  40 

Increase  in  school  revenues  during  last  scholastic  year 431,013  91 

Increase  in  revenues  by  special  local  taxation 104,607  87 

Number  of  school  districts  levying  special  tax  for  schools 

in  addition  to  the  regular  State  and  county  taxes....  757 

Number  of  such  districts  voted  during  the  year 146 

HIGH   SCHOOLS. 

Total  number  of  rural  public  high  schools  supported  by 

State,   county   and   district   appropriation 159 

Annual  State  appropriation  for  rural  public  high  schools.  50,000  00 

Total  spent  during  the  year  for  rural  public  high  schools.  91,415  99 

Enrollment  in  rural  high  schools 3,949 

Average  daily  attendance  in  rural  public  high  schools...  2,963 

RURAL  LIBRARIES. 

Total  number  of  rural  libraries  to  date 2,228 

Number  established  during  the  year 438 

Estimated   number  of  select  books 180,000 

Amount   expended    biennially   for    establishment   and    en- 
largement  of   rural   libraries 22,500  00 

SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  EQUIPMENT. 

Number  of  new  schoolhouses  built  and  equipped  during 

the  last  scholastic  year 404 

Total  expenditure  for  schoolhouses  and  equipment  during 

year  303,706  00 

Per  cent  of  increase  in  value  of  public  school  property 

during  past  decade 400% 

TEACHER  TRAINING. 

Total  number  of  teachers'  training  schools,  white 4 

Total  number  of  teachers'  training  schools,  colored 3 

Number  established  during  the  year,  white 1 

Total  expended  by   State  for  the  maintenance  of  teacher 
training  schools — 

White    143,000  00 

Colored     35,200  00 

Increase  in  appropriation  for  teacher  training  for  this  year  81,500  00 


56  CONFERENCE  FOR  EDUCATION. 

INCREASE  IN  SCHOOL  REVENUES— SCHOOL 
LEGISLATION. 

The  General  Assembly  of  1909,  adjourned  in  March,  in- 
creased the  annual  State  appropriation  for  public  high  schools 
$5,000.  The  increase  in  State  appropriation  for  the  annual  sup- 
port and  permanent  improvement  of  teacher  training  schools 
was  $81,500 ;  for  the  university  was  $6,000 ;  for  A.  and  M.  col- 
leges was  $24,500.  An  increase  of  $25,000  was  made  in  the 
annual  State  appropriation  to  the  lower  public  schools,  to  be 
distributed  per  capita.  An  amendment  was  made  to  the  law 
for  a  four  months'  school  term  so  as  to  require  each  county  re- 
ceiving aid  therefrom  to  raise,  by  special  county  taxation  on  all 
property  and  polls  of  the  county,  an  amount  equal  to  that  re- 
ceived from  this  State  appropriation.  The  effect  of  this  will 
be  to  increase  the  annual  revenues  for  public  schools  in  fifty- 
four  counties  of  the  State  at  least  $55,000.  The  result,  there- 
fore, of  the  legislation  of  the  General  Assembly  of  1909  will  be 
an  annual  increase  of  about  $100,000  for  the  lower  public  schools, 
exclusive  of  the  increase  in  revenues  for  the  higher  educational 
institutions.  ' 

COMPULSORY  EDUCATION. 

An  important  amendment  was  made  to  the  Compulsory  At- 
tendance Law,  whereby  compulsory  attendance  may  be  secured 
by  order  of  the  County  Board  of  Education,  in  any  school  dis- 
trict or  any  township  in  any  county  upon  petition  by  a  ma- 
jority of  the  patrons  of  the  school  or  schools  in  such  district 
or  township.  The  women,  as  well  as  the  men,  are  allowed  to 
be  petitioners.  The  old  law  required  an  election  and  a  majority 
of  the  qualified  voters  for  the  establishment  of  compulsory  at- 
tendance. Another  amendment  authorizes  the  County  Board 
of  Education  to  order  compulsory  attendance  of  their  own  mo- 
tion, without  petition  or  election,  in  districts  in  which  the  en- 
rollment is  less  than  60%  and  the  average  daily  attendance  is 
less  than  35%  of  the  school  population.  These  amendments 
open  the  way  to  conservative  progress  in  compulsory  attendance. 
It  is  expected  that  a  number  of  districts  and  townships  will 
adopt  it  during  the  next  two  years." 


JERE   M.  POUND.  57 

OKLAHOMA. 

Like  Minerva,  the  Baby  State  comes  into  life  full-grown  ,and 
full-armed,  and  gees  at  once  to  the  head  of  the  procession. 

HIGH  SCHOOLS. 

In  Mr.  Cameron's  report  he  says:  "At  present  there  are 
but  two  county  high  schools — one  in  Logan  County,  located  at 
Guthrie,  and  one  in  Alfalfa  County,  located  at  Helena.  All  of 
the  first  class  cities  of  tlie  State  have,  of  course,  city  high  schools, 
under  the  control  of  the  city  school  boards. 

LIBRARIES. 

A  special  library  law  was  passed  several  years  ago,  which 
provides  that  there  shall  be  appropriated  for  libraries,  in  dis- 
tricts employing  one  teacher,  not  less  than  $5  nor  more  than 
$10  each  year:  in  districts  employing  more  than  one,  and  less 
than  four  teachers,  not  less  than  $10  nor  more  than  $25  each 
year:  in  districts  employing  more  than  three  teachers,  not  less 
than  $25  nor  more  than  $50  each  year;  cities  of  the  first  class, 
not  less  than  $50  nor  more  than  $100  each  year. 

SCHOOL  REVENUES. 

Revenues  of  the  school  are  derived  from  three  sources :  First, 
a  local  district  tax.  which  may  run  from  5  to  15  mills  for  school 
purposes,  and  5  mills  additional  for  building  purposes,  making 
20  mills.  Second,  from  the  county  tax.  The  county  may  levy  a 
2-mill  tax,  not  over  1  mill  of  which  shall  be  for  the  county  high 
school.  Third,  from  the  apportionment  of  the  State  school  fund, 
derived  from  school  land  rentals  and  leases.  This  runs  from 
$1.50  to  $2  per  year  per  capita.'' 

The  school  lands  referred  to,  which  are  held  in  reserve  for 
the  common  schools,  number  1.413,085  acres.  The  value  of  these 
lands,  at  $20  per  acre,  is  $28,276.208.  AVhat  a  wonderful  fixed 
fund  for  common  school  education!  With  wise  management  it 
will  increase  year  by  year. 


58  CONFERENCE  FOR  EDUCATION. 

TEACHER  TRAINING. 

''We  have  training  schools  for  teachers  in  each  of  the  five 
State  normals,  State  University  and  A.  &  M.  College. 

SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  EQUIPMENT. 

The  biennial  period  covered  by  the  present  report  has  been 
•one  of  unprecedented  advancement  along  all  educational  lines, 
and  especially  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  State,  where  there 
were  no  free  public  schools  prior  to  statehood  on  the  16th  of 
last  November,  a  year  ago.  Children  in  that  part  of  the  State, 
formerly  known  as  Indian  Territory,  were  left  to  grow  up  in 
idleness  and  ignorance,  and  their  condition  was  pitiable  in  the 
extreme;  but  now,  under  statehood,  this  has  been  changed  and 
public  schools  are  within  the  reach  of  all.  During  the  past 
year  2,200  school  districts  and  2,200  public  schools  have  been 
established  in  that  portion  of  the  State  where  previously  a  vast 
majority  of  the  children  were  without  educational  advantages 
of  any  kind.  Many  new  schoolhouses  have  also  been  built  in 
the  old  part  of  Oklahoma,  and  the  sentiment  over  the  whole 
"State  is  emphatically  for  good  schools.  The  old  dilapidated 
box  house  is  rapidly  disappearing  and  handsome  frame  or  brick 
buildings  are  taking  their  place. 

The  salaries  of  male  teachers  range  from  $75  to  $200  per 
month,  while  the  salaries  of  female  teachers  range  from  $50  to 
.$90,  according  to  the  position  filled.  With  our  splendid  school 
fund,  which  is  rapidly  increasing,  we  will  soon  be  able  to  offer 
teachers  better  salaries  in  Oklahoma  than  can  be  paid  in  any 
other  State  in  the  Union. 

COMPULSORY  ATTENDANCE. 

This  is  the  only  State  in  the  South  which  lias  a  really  effec- 
tive compulsory  attendance  law.  The  law  provides:  "It  shall 
be  unlawful  for  any  parent  or  guardian  living  in  the  State  of 
Oklahoma  to  neglect  or  refuse  to  cause,  or  compel,  any  person 
or  persons  who  are,  or  may  bo,  under  their  control  as  children 


JERE   M.  POUND.  5& 

or  wards,  to  attend  and  comply  with  the  rules  of  some  public, 
private  or  other  school  or  schools,  unless  other  means  of  educa- 
tion are  provided  for  a  term  of  from  three  to  six  months,  in  the 
discretion  of  the  school  district  board  or  boards  of  education 
of  cities  of  the  first  class,  the  term  to  be  fixed  by  general  order 
at  the  annual  school  meeting,  which  shall  apply  to  all  children 
in  the  district,  each  successive  year,  from  the  time  said  children 
are  eight  years  old  until  they  are  sitxcrn  yc;irs  old,  unless  they 
are  prevented  by  mental  or  physical  disability:  the  question  of 
disability  being  determined  by  the  board,  or  by  a  certificate  to 
that  effect  from  a  duly  licensed  and  practicing  physician,  or 
by  reason  of  having  already  become  proficient  in  the  standard 
studies  from  attendance  upon  such  private,  public  or  other 
school  or  schools,  and  provided  that  in  such  cases  they  shall  be 
excused  by  the  superintendent  of  a  public,  private  or  other 
school,  or  by  the  Board  of  Education  of  the  school  district  in 
which  said  children  or  wards  may  live  at  the  time  of  such  fail- 
ure to  attend  such  public,  private  or  other  school  or  schools."" 

SUPERVISION. 

"A  new  school  law  has  just  been  passed  raising  salaries  of 
County  Superintendents  and  providing  for  two  or  more  school- 
houses  in  each  district." 


SOUTH  CAROLINA. 
HIGH  SCHOOLS. 

Supt.  Swearingen  says:  "The  high  school  movement  is  the 
most  encouraging  feature  of  the  educational  situation  in  South 
Carolina  today.  It  was  begun  in  the  fall  of  1907,  and  ninety-six 
State-aided  high  schools  are  at  present  in  operation.  The  in- 
spector is  insisting  on  rigid  compliance  with  the  high  standard 
set  for  the  best  schools,  and  his  work  is  being  endorsed  by  all 
the  educational  forces  of  the  State.  In  a  large  number  of  high 
schools  a  special  high  school  tax  is  levied. 


60  CONFERENCE  FOR  EDUCATION. 

LIBRARIES. 

The  library  law  has  been  in  operation  for  five  years.  The 
fortieth  annual  report  of  this  office  shows  that  approximately 
1,200  libraries  have  been  established,  containing  200,000  vol- 
umes valued  at  $60,000. 

SCHOOL  REVENUES. 

South  Carolina  has  the  largest  constitutional  levy  in  the 
Southern  States — the  3-mill  constitutional  tax  raised  last  year 
$778,000.  This  was  supplemented  by  special  taxes  voted  in  the 
separate  school  districts,  by  the  poll  tax,  and  by  the  profits  de- 
rived from  the  county  dispensaries.  The  total  expenditure  for 
common  school  purposes  in  the  State  during  the  school  year 
1907-8  was  approximately  $1,500,000.  The  State  colleges  re- 
ceived $380,000,  one-fourth  of  the  entire  amount  appropriated 
from  the  State  treasury.  Estimating  the  income  of  private  and 
denominational  schools  of  every  grade,  in  connection  with  tax 
revenues,  I  should  say  that  the  educational  expenditure  in  South 
Carolina,  for  the  last  school  year,  was,  in  round  numbers, 
$3,000,000. 

TEACHER  TRAINING. 

Teacher  training  is  receiving  less  attention  than  it  did  three 
years  ago.  No  State  summer  school  has  been  held  in  South 
Carolina  since  1906,  and  the  Legislature,  at  its  last  session, 
January  1909,  failed  to  make  any  appropriation  for  this  work. 
The  State  Normal  School  for  Girls,  at  Winthrop  College,  re- 
ceived, however,  the  largest  appropriation  ever  made  from  'the 
State  treasury  to  an  educational  institution  in  South  Carolina. 

An  earnest  effort  is  being  made  to  induce  the  Legislature  to 
reestablish  the  summer  school  work  in  1910. 

SCHOOL  BUILDINGS. 

One  hundred  and  forty  new  buildings  were  reported  last 
year.  Their  cost  was  65,319.61.  The  following  items  might 
also  be  of  interest: 


JERE   M.  POUND.  61 

Repairs  to  old  buildings $27,490  22 

Furniture    22,657  85 

Apparatus,  globes,  maps  and  charts 3,731  22 

A  considerable  number  of  towns  are  issuing  bonds  to  con- 
struct modern  school  buildings. 

SCHOOL  IMPROVEMENT. 

The  Rural  School  Improvement  Association  is  waging  a  vig- 
orous campaign  for  the  beautifying  of  school  grounds.  Their 
work  is  resulting  favorably  in  hundreds  of  communities. 

COMPULSORY  ATTENDANCE. 

Xo  compulsory  attendance  law  is  on  our  statute  books.  The 
present  State  Superintendent  of  Education  favors  the  enact- 
ment of  a  law  submitting  the  question  to  the  decision  of  the 
electors  and  resident  freeholders  in  any  school  district,  county, 
etc. 

SUPERVISION. 

The  greatest  improvement  in  county  supervision  is  evident 
in  the  lengthening  of  the  term  of  the  County  Superintendent 
of  Education.  Twenty-one  counties  now  have  a  four-year  term. 

SCHOOL  LEGISLATION. 

The  Legislature  passed  two  important  acts  at  its  recent  ses- 
sion. One  of  these  appropriates  $20.000  to  lengthen  the-  term 
of  any  school  which  runs  less  than  one  hundred  days,  provided 
the  patrons  of  the  school  subscribe  one-third  of  the  teacher's 
salary  for  the  time  during  which  the  term  is  lengthened :  the 
other  law  amends  the  present  high  school  act  by  requiring  each 
high  school  district  to  levy  at  least  a  2-mill  tax  for  school  pur- 
poses. ' ' 

TENNESSEE. 

HIGH  SCHOOLS. 

Supt.  Jones  informs  me  that  "high  schools  have  been  estab- 
lished in  Tennessee  in  twentv-three  counties.  Our  high  school 


r>2  CONFERENCE  FOR  EDUCATION. 

system  is  purely  a  county  system— the  State  thus  far  not  having 
contributed  anything  to  their  support,  nor  has  the  State  had 
any  inspection  or  control  over  these  institutions:  hence,  you  see 
that  there  is  necessarily  a  lack  of  uniformity.  Under  these  dis- 
advantages, however,  we  have  made  substantial  progress.  We 
now  have  44(H).(HH>  worth 'of  high  school  property  and  fifty  high 
schools  with  aji  enrollment  of  3,167  pupils.  A  measure,  which 
has  passed  the  House,  providing  for  State  support  and  State 
regulations  for  high  schools,  is  now  pending  in  the  Senate,  and 
we  have  every  ivason  to  believe  will  be  enacted  into  law.  "With 
the  passage  of  this  measure,  we  will  be  able  to  secure  within  the 
next  few  years  at  least  one  high  school  to  each  county  in  the 
State,  with  all  of  the  high  schools  standardized  and  classified 
by  the  State  Board  of  Education. 

LIBRARIES. 

While  the  State  makes  no  direct  appropriation  for  school 
libraries,  yet  the  communities  in  Tennessee  are  doing  a  great 
deal  in  the  way  of  establishing  libraries  for  themselves:  21,857 
new  volumes  were  added  to  the  school  libraries  in  this  State 
during  the  past  year.  There  is  a  measure  pending  in  the  Sen- 
ate, which  has  already  passed  the  House,  providing  for  an  an- 
nual appropriation  of  $9,000  a  year  for  rural  libraries.  With 
the  interest  in  libraries  that  is  already  awakened,  this  appro- 
priation on  the  part  of  the  State  will  enable  us  to  add  $30,000 
or  $40,000  worth  of  books  each  year  to  the  school  libraries  of 
the  State. 

SCHOOL  REVENUI.S. 

The  school  revenues  of  Tennessee  are  derived  from  two 
sources,  namely,  the  State  and  county.  This  year  the  State  will 
appropriate  $692,000  against  $436,000  two  years  ago.  The  total 
annual  receipts  for  school  purposes  for  the  year  ending  June 
30.  1908,  amounted  to  $3,506,969.56.  You  can  see  from  this 
statement  that  the  county  contributes  more  than  three-fourths 
of  the  total  amount  of  the  funds. 


JERE   M.  POUND.  63 

TEACHER  TRAINING. 

At  present  the  Peabody  Normal  College,  located  at  Nashville, 
is  the  only  institution  for  the  training  of  teachers  within  the 
State,  and  it  is  not  a  State  school.  However,  a  large  number  of 
our  public  school  teachers  are  attending  the  county  high  schools 
that  are  being  established  in  the  different  counties,  and  there 
is  a  bill  pending  in  the  Senate,  that  has  passed  the  House  al- 
ready, providing  for  the  establishment  of  three  normal  schools 
for  the  white  race  and  one  for  the  colored. 

SCHOOL  BUILDINGS. 

. 

This  department  issued,  last  year,  a  book  of  schoolhouse 
plans,  which  plans  are  being  adopted  by  the  various  boards  of 
education ;  and  the  style  of  schoolhouse  architecture,  as  well  as 
the  convenience  and  comfort  of  the  school  room,  is  beino:  greatly 
improved.  There  was  spent  last  year  for  the  erection  of  public 
school  buildings  $400,000,  and  the  value  of  all  of  the  public 
school  buildings  and  grounds  in  the  State  is  estimated  at 
$8,187,169. 

The  school  buildings  and  grounds  are  being  greatly  improved 
and  school  improvement  associations  are  being  organized  in  dif- 
ferent portions  of  the  State  for  the  purpose  of  improving  the 
school  buildings  and  grounds  through  local  endeavor. 

COMPULSORY  EDUCATION. 

Several  counties  of  this  State  have  compulsory  attendance 
laws.  However,  the  laws  have  not  been  in  force  long  enough 
for  us  to  give  any  accurate  estimate  of  their  workings  or  worth. 

SUPERVISION. 

"While  the  supervision  of  the  schools  of  the  State  is  nee»->- 
sarily  inefficient,  because  of  the  salaries  paid  to  the  superintend- 
ents, yet  the  efficiency  is  gradually  increasing,  and  the  salary 
of  County  Superintendents  have  been  more  than  doubled  in  the 
past  five  years." 


64  CONFERENCE  FOR  EDUCATION. 

TEXAS. 

Now  hear  Snpt.  Cousins,  of  Texas:  "  Replying  to  your  cir- 
cular letter  of  March  19  I  beg  leave  to  say  that  during  the  last 
year  the  people  of  Texas  have  built  thirty  high  schools,  ninety- 
nine  libraries,  containing  38,733  volumes,  and  have  increased 
the  school  revenue  $867,013.  The  Legislature  has  created  an 
addition  of  one  new  normal  school  and  added  departments  for 
training  teachers  in  agriculture,  manual  training  and  domestic 
science  to  the  three  already  established,  providing  for  giving 
instruction  in  agriciilture  and  allied  subjects  in  the  six  State 
schools  of  higher  learning.  Forty-four  new  schoolhouses  have 
been  built  in  cities  and  towns,  and  innumerable  improvements 
have  been  made  in  the  grounds  of  others. 

A  compulsory  attendance  bill  passed  the  House  of  Represent- 
atives at  the  present  session  of  the  Legislature,  but  failed  by  a 
narrow  margin  in  the  Senate. 

"Within  the  last  two  years  nearly  seventy  County  Superin- 
tendents have  been  added  to  a  list  of  forty-four.  These  Super- 
intendents are  required  to  be  men  possessing  first  grade  teacher 's 
license,  or  higher  grade  certificates,  giving  their  whole  time  to 
the  work  of  supervising  the  county  schools. 

The  present  session  of  the  Legislature  is  the  most  liberal  one 
.with  school  matters  that  has  assembled  at  the  capitol  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  State,  so  far  as  I  know,  Avhile  the  present  Governor 
is  a  wise  and  powerful  friend  of  the  common  schools.  The 
future  for  public  education  in  Texas  was  mnvr  so  bright  as  at 
present." 

VIRGINIA. 
HIGH  SCHOOLS. 

Note  the  following  from  Virginia:  "The  Legislature  of 
1906  appropriated  .^.lO.OoO  per  annum  for  high  schools.  "We 
had,  then,  sixty-seven  high  schools.  The  result  of  this  appro- 
priation was  to  increase  the  number  to  'J1S.  The  Legislature 
of  1908  doubled  this  annual  appropriation  and  added  $15,000 
for  normal  traininir  departments  in  high  schools  and  $20.000  for 


JERE   M.  POUND.  65 

agricultural,  domestic  economy  and  manual  training  depart- 
ments in  ten  selected  high  schools.  The  number  of  high  schools 
has  been  increased  this  year  to  325.  We  have  twenty  normal 
training  departments  in  selected  high  schcols. 

LIBRARIES. 

The  Legislature  of  1906  appropriated  $3.750  annually  for 
traveling  iil)raries.  This  has  enabled  the  State  library  to  send 
-out  a  great  many  traveling  libraries  among  the  schools.  The 
Legislature  of  1908  voted  $5,000  for  permanent  libraries,  the 
citizens  in  each  case  to  contribute  $15,  the  district  school  board 
si 5  and  the  St.ite  *!<>.  In  January,  1909  we  published  a  library 
list,  containing  nearly  1.500  titles.  Since  that  list  was  published 
over  100  libraries  have  been  established  and  we  are  receiving 
many  applications  daily. 

SI-IIOOL  REVENUES. 

The  Legislature  of  1908  increased  the  cash  appropriation  for 
high  schools  from  $50.000  to  $135,000  as  above  stated.  The  Leg- 
islature increased  the  appropriation  for  primary  and  grammar 
schools  from  $l(i( ).()()(»  to  $4<;5.000.  including  $5,000  for  teach- 
ers' pensions  and  libraries. 

Our  local  revenues,  which  had  been  largely  increased  during 
the  preceding  years,  were  again  slightly  increased  during  the 
last  year,  so  that  we  are  now  spending  $3,500,000  on  primary 
and  secondary  schools.  The  appropriations  for  institutions  of 
higher  learning  were  increased  .by  the  Legislature  of  1908  from 
$433.750  to  $539,500. 

TEACHER  TRAINING. 

The  Legislature  of  1908  established  two  new  State  normal 
schools  for  the  training  of  teachers  and  twenty  normal  depart- 
ments in  high  schools.  AVe  now  have  ten  summer  schools  for 
•white  teachers  and  three  for  colored,  and  enroll  in  these  schools 
more  than  one-third  of  all  of  the  teachers  in  the  State. 


66  CONFERENCE  FOR  EDUCATION. 

SCHOOL  BUILDINGS. 

Virginia  spent,  last  year,  about  $400,000  on  new  school  build- 
ings. The  law  and  our  regulations  require  the  location,  plans 
and  specifications  of  school  buildings  to  be  approved  by  the 
division  superintendents  and  by  this  department.  In  all  new 
buildings  we  require  the  light  area  to  be  one-  fourth  of  the  floor 
surface  and  the  buildings  to  provide  fifteen  square  feet  of  floor 
space  and  two  hundred  cubic  feet  of  floor  space  for  each  child. 
A  system  of  ventilation  must  be  installed,  which  will  give  each 
pupil  thirty  cubic  feet  of  pure  air  every  minute.  These  require- 
ments were  put  into  a  statute  enacted  by  the  Legislature  of 
1908.  Except  under  very  peculiar  circumstances  we  require  at 
least  two  acres  of  ground  for  the  location  of  a  school.  The  im- 
provement of  grounds  is  receiving  much  attention,  not  only 
from  the  school  officials,  but  also  at  the  hands  of  improvement 
leagues,  composed  of  citizens  and  pupils. 

COMPULSORY  EDUCATION.     . 

The  Legislature  of  1908  passe  1  a  !awr  providing  that  tin- 
people  in  each  county  might  have  compulsory  education  by  a 
majority  vote. 

SUPERVISION'. 

An  act  of  the  Legislature  of  1908  will  revolutionize  our  sys- 
tem of  school  superintendents.  The  minimum  salary  will  be 
$900.  While  the  State  Board  of  Education  is  authrrixed  to 
make  exceptions  to  this  general  rule,  yet  the  requirements  are 
so  carefully  drawn  that  it  is  safe  to  say  no  such  exceptions  will 
be  made.  We  hope  to  have  expert  supervision  in  all  of  the  di- 
visions in  the  State  after  July  1,  190!).  " 

VYKST  VIRGINIA. 

SCHOOLS. 


Supt.  M.   1'.  Shawkey,  <  1'  West    Virginia,  says:     "At    present 
there  are  about  fiftv-nine  high  schools  in  West  Virginia.     There 


JERE   M.  POUND.  67 

is  a  very  encouraging  movement  in  favor  of  district  high  schools, 
however,  which  I  think  will  result  in  a  very  few  years  in  estab- 
lishing a  la  rye  number  of  high  schools  of  this  character.  Pro- 
vision was  made  for  the  establishment  of  these  in  our  school 
law.  as  revised  in  1908.  At  the  beginning  of  my  term  of  office 
in  March  I  established,  a  division  of  high  schools  in  connection 
with  this  department.  At  the  head  of  this  division  is  an  expe- 
rienced hiirh  srho<  1  man.  win  se  work  it  will  be  to  make  a 
thorough  study  of  the  high  school  situation  in  this  State  and 
furnish  information  and  assistance  in  establishing  high  schools 
wherever  eondhions  are  ready  for  them.  Already  a  number  of 
districts  in  the  State  are  taking  steps  toward  the  establishment 
of  seln els  of  This  kind. 

LIBRARIES. 

The  library  movement  in  this  State  has  been  one  of  the  most 
encouraging  features  of  our  educational  progress.  Within  the 
last  few  years  small  libraries  have  been  established  in  hundreds 
of  schools  throughout  the  Mate.  These  are  for  the  most  part 
the  result  of  the  efforts  of  teachers  and  pupils  without  any  as- 
sistance from  boards  of  education.  Our  revised  school  law,  how- 
ever, provides  that  boards  rf  education  may  appropriate  an 
amount  not  exceeding  $10  each  year  to  each  school  for  the  pur- 
pi  se  of  purclu.sing  broks  for  libraries.  In  1897  the  number  of 
books  in  libraries  of  this  kind  was  about  8,000.  At  the  present 
time  there  are  about  200.000  books  in  such  libraries. 

SCHOOL  LIBRARIES. 

Revenues  for  the  support  of  public  schools  come  from  two 
sources:  local  levies  and  the  State  distributable  fund,  which 
amounts  to  $750.000  a  year.  The  State  educational  institutions 
of  higher  grade  are  all  supported  by  direct  appropriation.  The 
total  expenditure  of  this  State  for  school  purposes  is  $4,297,353. 

TEACHER  TRAINING. 

The  State  supports  six  normal  schools  for  the  training  of 
white  teachers,  and  two  schools  having  normal  departments  for 


68  CONFERENCE  FOR  EDUCATION. 

the  training  of  colored  teachers.  An  appropriation  is  also  made 
each  year  for  an  endowed  colored  school  to  be  used  in  the  train- 
ing of  teachers.  There  are  also  a  number  of  denominational 
schools  in  the  State  that  have  normal  departments. 

SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  EQUIPMENT. 

In  the  towns  and  cities  of  the  State  very  encouraging  prog- 
ress has  been  made  in  this  line,  most  of  the  buildings  being  up 
to  date  in  architecture  and  equipment.  A  decided  advance  is 
being  made  along  this  line  in  the  rural  schools  also.  In  many 
sections  the  old  type  of  rural  school  building  is  giving  place  to 
a  more  modern  type,  and  better  equipment  is  being  provided. 

COMPULSORY  ATTENDANCE. 

West  Virginia  has  had  a  compulsory  attendance  law  for 
about  fifteen  years.  It  was  rendered  more  effective  l;ist  year, 
however,  by  the  enactment  of  a  law  which  makes  the  appoint- 
ment of  truant  officers  by  boards  of  education  compulsory.  We 
are  not  yet  entirely  satisfied  with  the  results  obtained,  however. 

SUPERVISION. 

The  most  decided  advance  in  this  line  within  the  pa.sl  year 
has  been  the  enactment  of  a  law  providing  for  district  super- 
vision. This  provision  is  not  mandatory,  but  twenty-five  or 
thirty  districts  in  the  State  have  district  superintendents. 

SCHOOL  LEGISLATION. 

The  most  important  recent  legislation  relating  to  education 
was  the  passage  of  an  act  at  the  session  of  our  Legislature  in 
February,  prividing  for  a  State  School  Book  Commission  and 
the  uniform  adoption  of  text-books.  For  a  number  of  years  we 
have  had  a  system  of  county  adoptions.  This  law  was  enacted  as 
the  result  of  a  strong  popular  demand  for  a  change  from  1 1n- 
present  law." 

This  cii«ls  the  record  i'er  the  current  twelve  months  — a  record 


JERE   M.  POUND.  69 

of  great  achievement,  one  which  ought  to  make  glad  the  heart 
of  every  man  who  loves  the  South.  Some  time  since  a  gentle- 
man of  great  intelligence,  who  had  traveled  much  and  observed 
profoundly,  made  the  prediction  that  this  section  would  yet 
lead  in  the  evolution  of  a  type  of  education  new  to  the  world — 
a  sounder,  saner,  more  satisfactory  type  than  that  which  now 
is.  There  are  many  hints  in  this  record  that  the  prophet  may 
not  be  without  honor.  So  mote  it  be. 

The  South  is  again  facing  the  east.  The  dawn  is  breaking. 
Tbe  sky  is  clear.  The  sunrise  promises  to  be  glorious. 

MR.  JOYXEK  —  The  next  speaker  very  earnestly  requests  that 
the  exodus  of  school  teachers  for  Oklahoma  shall  not  begin  until 
the  end  of  his  paper.  There  is  no  more  significant  or  important 
movement  in  Southern  education,  or  world  education  for  that 
matter,  than  this  movement  of  relating  agricultural  and  indus- 
trial schools  more  closely  to  the  life  and  needs  of  the  people  to 
be  trained.  Therefore  we  thought  it  proper  that  we  should 
have  a  paper  today  from  the  man  best  prepared  perhaps  among 
the  Southern  superintendents  to  discuss  this  subject  because 
of  that  movement  now  on  in  his  State,  and  we  have  asked  Su- 
perintendent Cook,  of  Arkansas,  to  discuss  the  "Agricultural 
and  Industrial  Movement  in  the  South."  I  take  pleasure  in  in- 
troducing Superintendent  Cook. 

MR.  COOK. 

"TiiE  AGRICULTURAL  AND  INDUSTRIAL  EDUCATIONAL 
MOVEMENT  IN  THE  SOUTH." 

The  mere  mention  of  this  subject,  even  in  the  most  casual 
way,  is  sufficient  to  arouse  the  enthusiasm  of  every  person,  in 
attendance  upon  this  Conference.  It  is  a  subject  of  the  broad- 
est and  most  comprehensive  significance  and  one  that  is  coming 
more  and  more  to  hold  that  large  share  of  attention  to  which  it 
is  so  justly  entitled  in  the  minds  of  educators,  of  legislators, 
and,  at  last,  in  the  minds  of  the  citizens  generally,  whether  of 
rural  or  urban  communities. 


70  CONFERENCE  FOR  EDUCATION. 

This  forward  movement  of  such  gigantic  and  rapidly  in- 
creasing impetus  is  in  no  way  peculiar  to  the  South.  While  the 
movement  has  been  undertaken  more  recently  throughout  the 
South  than  in  some  of  the  Northern  and  Eastern  States,  it  is 
equally  true  that  the  development,  the  general  acceptance  and 
fruition  in  practical  results  have  been  more  rapid  and  marked 
among  the  States  here  represented  than  in  any  other  section  of 
the  country,  or  the  world.  I  do  not  mean  to  infer  that  we  have 
leaped  ahead  of  the  almost  sublime  accomplishments  of  those 
States  in  which  the  beginning  of  this  movement  was  made,  for 
this  is  far  from  true:  and  every  State  represented  in  this  Con- 
ference has  much  to  do  and  a  long  distance  to  traverse  with 
utmost  care  before  our  agricultural  and  industrial  standing  will 
bear  favorable  comparison  with  a  number  of  our  sister  common- 
wealths. Yet,  it  is  true,  patently  so,  that  the  condition  through- 
out our  beloved  Southland  today  presents  a  contrast  to  that 
which  existed  yesterday,  a  yesterday  well  within  the  personal 
memory  of  many  who  hear  these  words,  that  is  without  histor- 
ical precedent  or  parallel. 

Indeed,  it  is  not  so  much  what  has  been  accomplished  al- 
ready in  relieving  the  stricken  and  palsied  condition  of  the 
South,  faced  with  the  destruction  of  its  industrial  system,  sur- 
rounded by  material  devastation,  and  shrouded  in  a  mantle  of 
grief;  no,  it  is  not  those  things  that  have  been  done  that  hold 
forth  the  greatest  cause  for  rejoicing,  wonderful  as  they  are, 
but  it  is  the  mighty,  onsweeping  force  of  the  all-conquering 
revolution  that  has  been  started  on  a  career  that  makes  the  sug- 
gestion of  defeat  impossible. 

It  is  the  bright,  the  dazzling  promise  of  the  future,  the  near 
future  in  touch  and  intimately  linked  with  the  present,  that 
gives  us  the  greatest  cause  for  rejoicing.  The  analogy  between 
the  general  situation  throughout  the  South  and  the  specific  ap- 
plication of  the  major  phase  of  the  subject  under  consideration 
are  not  inapt.  The  seed  has  been  sown,  and  we  have  the  most 
complete  assurance  of  the  virility  of  the  seed,  the  fertility  of 
the  soil  arid  the  promise  of  successful  cultivation  to  a  harvest 
of  a  new  and  grander  South,  rich  in  all  the  blessings  of  life  with 


MR.  COOK.  71 

a  happy  people,  intelligent,  industrious  and  returning  thanks 
to  the  Great  Ruler  of  All  for  the  generous  bounty  of  all  things 
with  which  they  are  surrounded. 

However,  it  is  impossible  to  ignore  the  high  marks  of  prog- 
ress that  have  already  been  reached,  for,  after  all.  it  is  the  record 
of  the  South 's  advancement  during  the  past  twenty  years  from 
which  we  draw  the  greatest  encouragement  for  the  future. 

The  story  reads  almost  like  a  miracle,  especially  so  when  we 
remember  the  history  of  the  South  following  the  Civil  AVar.  In 
this  period  the  property  values  of  the  South  increased  from 

sT.Miii.uiO.liOO  to  .4r2<HH;o.O<i< (.(>(•( i.  or  nearly  three  hundred  per 
cent. 

Indeed,  this  is  not  all.  for  the  South 's  increasing  importance 
is  furthermore  shown  by  the  growth  in  population  from  16,000,- 
000  to  27,000,000.  That  the  character  of  this  population  is  de- 
veloping into  an  active  and  effective  type  of  enterprise  is  shown 
in  the  industrial  statistics.  Manufactured  products  have  in- 
creased, during  the  same  period,  from  f  260,000,000  to  2,100,- 
000,000.  The  increase  of  wealth  and  relative  importance 
throughout  the  entire  industrial  fabric  is  in  proportion  to  the 
few  examples  just  cited.  Yet.  1  repeat,  this  is  but  a  beginning 
and  indicates  the  future  possibilities,  so  great,  so  startling  in 
their  immensity  as  to  dwarf  the  present  standards  of  comparison. 

At  present  some  10',  of  the  South 's  farming  lands  are  un- 
improved. An  area  equal  to  one-half  of  the  New  England  States 
lies  in  this  wonderful  country  ready  to  be  drained  and  converted 
into  the  richest  agricultural  land.  AYhat  will  the  future  reveal 
when  all  this  land  is  brought  into  a  high  state  of  cultivation? 
when  our  population  increases  from  its  present  number  of  32 
to  the  square  mile  to  that  of  Illinois  or  Wisconsin  of  some  90 
persons  to  each  square  mile  .'  The  South  would  then  have  a 
population  of  60.ooi>.<;iii>. 

The  increase  in  railroad  building  has  been  3S2' ,  in  the 
South  to  312',  for  the  remainder  of  the  country.  Our  exports 
exceed  our  imports  annually  by  $500,000,000,  of  which  South- 
ern cotton  furnishes  .4;44i >.<>()<).<><:<>  a  year.  So.  Mr.  President, 


72  CONFERENCE  FOR  EDUCATION. 

we  have  a  country  which,  if  it  continues  to  prosper,  will  become 
the  richest  and  most  properons  portion  of  this  Union. 

I  have  dwelt  thus  briefly  upon  the  general  industrial  ad- 
vancement in  the  South  before  presenting  any  of  the  specific 
educational  campaigns  that  have  been  so  potent  in  bringing 
about  these  results,  and  are  our  safeguard  in  assuming  so  much 
for  the  future,  that  we  may  fully  appreciate  the  magnitude  of 
the  subject,  and  that  the  relation  between  these  educational  cam- 
paigns and  the  material,  measurable,  statistical  results  may  be 
apparent. 

I  am  very  glad  that  the  statement  of  this  subject  was  given 
to  me  in  just  the  careful  form  in  which  it  was.  I  feel  that  those 
who  outlined  this  program  may  have  taken  a  deeper  insight  into 
this  matter  than  might  at  first  be  noted  in  specifying  ''Agri- 
cultural and  Industrial"  education,  rather  than  letting  the  pre- 
sumption be  that  agricultural  education  might  be  implied  suf- 
ficiently in  the  generic  term  "Industrial  Education." 

It  is  true  that  agricultural  education  in  our  schools,  and 
outside  the  school  through  the  splendid  cooperation  of  the 
United  States  Department  of  Agriculture,  the  National  Bureau 
of  Education  and  the  various  State  departments,  colleges  and 
stations,  does  not  include  all  that  is  being  done  in  industrial 
training,  yet  the  relative  importance  of  agricultural  education 
is  tactfully  indicated  in  the  statement  of  my  subject. 

I  do  not  wish  to  overlook  the  importance  of  the  manual  work, 
the  various  commercial  trades  and  other  forms  of  industrial  ed- 
ucation that  are  becoming  factors  in  our  urban  schools,  but  the 
advantages  enjoyed  in  the  schools  of  the  cities  and  towns 
throughout  the  .South  are  so  much  greater  than  obtain  in  the 
rural  schools  and  the  proportion  of  school  population  in  the 
rural  districts  being  a  generous  80%  of  all  the  school  popula- 
tion, the  relative  value  of  agricultural  education  becomes  ap- 
parent, without  recalling  that  the  prosperity  of  the  South  must 
always  depend  upon  her  agricultural  products. 

Again,  as  the  advantages  et'  agricultural  training  in  the 
niral  schools  arc  appreciated  in  equipping  the  hoys  and  girls 
of  those  communities  for  the  enjoyment  of  the  fullest  pleasure 


MR.  COOK.  73 

and  profit  from  their  surroundings  by  according  them  a  school 
training  in  harmony  with  their  environment,  the  relative  appli- 
cation of  training  suited  to  the  environment  of  the  boys  and 
girls  in  towns  and  cities  would  quickly  follow,  if  indeed  it  did 
not  antedate  tlu1  analogous  movement  in  the  rural  schools  which 
are,  in  all  instances,  even  under  the  most  advanced  plans  of  su- 
vervision,  much  more  difficult  to  reach  with  new  ideals. 

The  term  "Industrial  Education"  has  not  yet  a  well-settled, 
generally  accepted  meaning.  It  is  sometimes  applied  to  the  train- 
ing skill  in  various  technical  operations  to  be  employed  later 
in  the  arts.  Again,  the  work  of  the  trade  school,  where  the  chief 
aim  is  to  develop  skill  in  the  processes  of  a  given  trade  and  little 
else  demanded,  is  frequently  spoken  of  as  "Industrial  Educa- 
tion." 

Too  often  the  conception  of  industrial  education  sees  in 
skilled  manipulative  processes,  of  value  to  the  individual,  the 
chief  end  of  such  education  and  fails  to  recognize  the  extent  and 
importance  of  the  mental  and  moral  training  involved  in  se- 
curing this  end. 

While  the  difficulty  in  framing  an  adequate  definition  of 
so  inclusive  a  term  as  "Industrial  Education''  is  recognized,  it 
seems  necessary  to  offer  such  a  definition  as  may  be  accepted 
for  the  purposes  of  this  ad<ln-s<.  AYith  this  end  in  view  the  fol- 
lowing is  presented : 

Industrial  education  has  for  its  purpose  the  acquiring  of  a  body 
of  usable  knowledge  of  greater  or  less  extent  relating  to  industrial 
conditions,  processes  and  organization,  and  to  the  administration  of 
affairs  incident  to  the  environment  of  the  individual  being  educated, 
involving  the  gaining  of  some  skill  in  the  use  of  such  knowledge, 
and  the  securing  of  mental,  esthetic  and  ethical  training  through  the 
acquisition  and  use  of  the  knowledge  indicated. 

A  very  terse  and  acceptable  expression  of  the  proper  con- 
ception of  industrial  education  was  given  by  ex-President 
Roosevelt  in  his  address  at  the  semicentennial  celebration  of  the 
opening  of  the  Michigan  Agricultural  College  in  1907,  and 
which  marked  the  fiftieth  milepost  from  the  very  beginning  of 
that  broad  agricultural  and  industrial  education  now  so  thor- 


74  CONFERENCE  FOR  EDUCATION. 

oughly  established  as  an  important  factor  in  the  school  systems 
of  every  State  in  the  Union.  The  result  to  be  striven  for,  to 
quote  President  Roosevelt,  is  "as  intimate  relationship  as  pos- 
sible between  the  theory  of  education  and  the  facts  of  actual 
life." 

Another  quotation,  taken  from  the  notable  address  on  the 
"Development  of  Agricultural  Education,"  by  Dr.  Elmer  Ells- 
worth Brown,  Commissioner  of  Education,  than  whom  we  have 
no  greater  authority,  and  a  quotation  made  use  of  in  the  Na- 
tional Report,  shows  in  a  comprehensive  way  the  broad  plan 
which  must  underlie  the  successful  development  of  all  indus- 
trial education.  Dr.  Brown  outlines  his  ideal  as  follows : 

A  system  of  schools  complete  in  its  sequence  from  the  lowest  to 
the  highest,  in  which  the  study  of  books  is  closely  joined  with  train- 
ing for  some  of  the  practical  arts  of  life;  in  which  all  practical  train- 
ing is  kept  in  vital  touch  with  general  education;  in  which  the  ability 
to  form  sound  and  stable  judgments  is  sought  throughout  as  a  thing 
of  very  great  price;  in  which  the  higher  schools  send  into  the  lower 
schools  an  unbroken  succession  of  teachers  who  both  know  the  truth 
and  are  able  to  bring  others  to  a  knowledge  of  the  truth;  and  in 
which,  finally,  the  stream  of  knowledge  fresh  and  new,  from  some  de- 
partment of  pure  research,  shall  never  fail  to  keep  fresh  and  bright 
the  old  wisdom  of  the  ages  gone  before.  Or,  in  more  concrete  state- 
ment, our  elementary  schools  and  high  schools  in  country  communi- 
ties are  still  to  be,  primarily,  schools  of  general  education,  but  with 
much  more  training  in  the  arts  of  the  farm  and  the  sciences  lying 
near  to  those  arts.  Our  State  colleges  of  agriculture  and  mechanic 
arts  are  to  prepare  young  men  and  women  to  read  intelligently  the 
literature  of  scientific  agriculture,  to  form  independent  judgments  in 
agricultural  matters,  and  to  bring  their  new  knowledge  into  connec- 
tion with  the  real  work  of  the  farm;  these  State  colleges,  moreover, 
are  to  provide  well-trained  teachers  of  agriculture  and  related  sub- 
jects for  the  elementary  and  secondary  schools;  the  colleges  of  agri- 
culture, still  further,  are  to  be  cooperative  educational  institutions 
and  not  merely  special  and  local  institutions — they  are  to  cooperate 
with  similar  institutions  in  other  States  in  order  that  the  work  of 
one  may  be  strengthened  by  the  work  of  all  and  cooperate  with  the 
universities  of  their  several  States  for  the  innumerable  advantages 
to  both  which  may  come  from  such  united  effort. 

The  National  Department  of  Agriculture  is  undoubtedly  to  con- 
tinue its  remarkably  wide  and  influential  work,  its  expert  investiga- 
tions, the  issuance  of  manifold  and  vastly  useful  publications  and 


MR.  COOK.  75 

its  furtherance  of  all  manner  of  agricultural  education  and  research 
in  the  several  States.  Finally,  the  Bureau  of  Education  is  to  do  as 
thoroughly  as  possible  the  part  of  this  work  assigned  to  it.  It  can 
do  its  best  work,  I  think,  as  a  coordinating  influence.  It  can  bring 
to  the  notice  of  the  less-favored  institutions  information  concerning 
the  experience  of  more  advanced  institutions.  It  can  call  attention 
from  time  to  time  to  the  relation  of  agricultural  education  to  general 
education.  It  can  survey  the  educational  field  and  possibly  poiot  out 
dangers  to  be  averted  or  weak  places  to  be  strengthened.  It  can, 
finally,  discover  things  that  need  the  doing  and  are  not  attended  to 
by  any  other  agency,  and  can  see  that  some  part  of  such  lack  is  sup- 
plied. 

As  mentioned  before,  the  beginning  of  agricultural  educa- 
tion has  been  properly  dated  from  the  opening  of  the  Michigan. 
State  Agricultural  College.  May  1M.  1857.  During  the  last  few 
years  the  development  of  agricultural  education  has  been  mar- 
velous, nor  has  the  South  been  backward  in  this  important 
movement. 

The  conditions  have  been  favorable,  and  the  correlated  ac- 
tivities of  the  United  States  Department,  with  the  hearty  sanc- 
tion of  the  President,  in  working  harmoniously  with  the  various 
State  agricultural  colleges  and  stations,  have  made  the  years 
just  passed  remarkable  for  accomplishment  and  have  paved  the 
way  for  triumphs  much  greater,  especially  in  the  South,  where 
latent  resources  are  on  every  hand. 

In  every  Southern  State  there  are  school  gardens  supplied 
direct  from  the  horticulturist  at  Washington.  Publications  by 
tlu  many  thousands  have  been  sent  in  every  direction  by  the 
I'.  S.  Forest  Service.  The  Meteorological  Department  has  had 
two  score  of  men  in  the  field  in  addition  to  the  establishment  of 
weather  stations  th-roughont  the  nation  and  the  circulation  of 
valuable  reports. 

The  Agricultural  Department,  proper,  lias  pushed  its  work 
most  vigorously  under  capable  leadership  and  has  extended  its 
activities  far  beyond  the  proportion  of  appropriations  for  the 
purpose  by  improved  methods  of  administration. 

There  is  not  a  State  in  the  South  today  but  enjoys  direct 
financial  aid  from  the  National  Government  in  supporting  its 


76  CONFERENCE  FOR  EDUCATION. 

agricultural  colleges  and  stations,  in  addition  to  the  cooperation 
of  the  United  States  Department  in  its  actual  work.  Nor  is 
there  a  State  here  represented  that  has  not  many  demonstration 
farms  conducted  by  adult  farmers  under  supervision  of  the 
field  agents  in  the  farm  demonstration  work  of  the  National  De- 
partment. 

It  seems  very  probable  that  the  farm  demonstration  work 
has  accomplished  much  in  popularizing  industrial  training  and 
breaking  down  the  prejudice  against  any  form  of  "book  learn- 
ing" being  applied  to  the  farm. 

The  extent  of  this  prejudice  and  the  difficulties  met  by  the 
first  field  operatives  in  farm  demonstration  was  made  plain  by 
Dr.  Arthur  S.  Knapp,  who  is  in  charge  of  this  work.  He  stated, 
in  a  recent  address  before  the  General  Assembly  of  Arkansas, 
that  it  required  a  signed  guarantee  that  no  loss  should  result 
from  the  experiment  in  order  to  persuade  an  intelligent  farmer 
to  permit  his  land  and  time  to  be  used  in  cultivating  a  few  acres 
under  the  supervision  of  the  U.  S.  Department  agents. 

This  was  only  a  few  years  ago.  It  is  needless  to  say  the 
farmer  in  question  was  shown  a  profit  and  from  that  beginning 
has  grown  this  movement  which  numbers  the  farm  demonstra- 
tions now  being  conducted  by  farmers  in  the  South  by  the  tens 
of  thousands.  From  this  small  beginning,  also,  have  been  de- 
veloped similar  methods  by  the  State  departments,  and  the 
old,  irreproachable  objection  to  any  "scientific,"  or  other  in- 
terference, held  by  the  farmer  is  rapidly  melting  away  before 
the  positive  proof  that  it  "pays  to  know  how." 

Just  as  fast  as  the  farmer  of  the  South  comes  to  realize  that 
husbandry  is  a  trade,  art,  science  and  profession  of  the  highest 
order,  and  that  the  schools  will  send  back  to  him  boys— aye, 
and  girls,  too— prepared  to  improve  the  methods,  lighten  the 
heavy  burdens,  add  to  the  profits  and  multiply  the  comforts  of 
the  farm,  just  so  fast  is  the  Southern  farmer  becoming  a  staunch 
supporter  of  industrial  education. 

Indeed,  industrial  education  has  placed  before  our  schools 
a  new  ideal  and  given  educators  a  new  goal  to  strive  for.  It 
has  shown  the  way,  if  it  has  not  already  accomplished  the  fact, 


MR.  COOK.  77 

of  bridging;  the  wide  gap  that  has  ever  stood  between  the  scholar 
and  the  worker,  and  has  made  it  not  only  possible  but  reasonable 
to  expect  the  .same  individual  to  know  actively  and  to  do  in- 
telligently. 

Industrial  education  is  rapidly  removing  the  one  complacent 
plaint  of  ignorance  against  scholarship,  or  at  least  against  the 
product  of  our  public  schools.  AYhen  the  boy  from  school  can 
actually  raise  more  cotton  and  better  corn,  and  can.  with  less 
hard  physical  labor,  show  greater  profit  on  the  farm  than  the 
boy  who  continued  to  plow  and  to  hoe  while  the  other  studied; 
when  the  girl  can  cook,  sew  and  keep  house  better  because  she 
has  been  to  school,  realize  a  much  greater  profit  from  dairy, 
poultry  yard,  or  garden  even,  on  account  of  her  industrial  train- 
ing; when  the  schools  return  to  the  farm  the  sons  and  daugh- 
ters, happy,  contented  and  prosperous,  making  the  farm  a  profit- 
able business  of  varied  departments  and  the  home-life  bright 
with  comforts  and  happiness,  wherein  will  the  illiterate  drudge 
find  any  pleasure  in  comparison,  and  what  true  father  and 
mother,  no  matter  how  burdened  with  care  or  unfortunate  for 
want  of  school  advantages  themselves,  will  longer  grumble  at 
the  time  wasted  in  book  learning,  or  fear  the  lure  of  the  city 
as  before? 

Can  we  not  today,  as  never  before,  look  ahead  and  measure 
the  time  when  the  country  boy  and  girl  will  find  in  the  public 
school  that  training  which  will  fit  them  for  the  fullest  enjoy- 
ment of  their  environment  and  which  will,  in  turn,  elevate  the 
very  environment  until  they  may  never  "feel  their  lot  unfortu- 
nate simply  because  they  were  reared  in  the  country?  If  this 
condition  may  be  made  true  for  the  country  boy  and  girl,  it 
can  be  kept  equally  true  for  the  children  of  town  and  city,  while 
to  both  those  of  the  rural  and  those  of  the  urban  communities 
will  still  be  offered  the  opportunity  for  higher  education. 

That  day  has  surely  passed  when  the  schools  of  the  nation 
may  look  for  their  only  finished  product  in  the  fractional  per 
cent  that  climb  the  ladder  of  scholarship  to  the  loftiest  rung. 
Instead  of  merely  making  scholars  by  the  occasional  score  our 
school  will  be  making  in  ever-increasing  millions  successful  men 


78  CONFERENCE  FOR   EDI 'CATION. 

and  women,  citizens  to  carry  on  the  work  of  making  the  South 
and  every  other  section  of  the  nation  imperial  in  wealth  and 
glory  and  forever  safe  in  the  patriotism  of  a  wholesome  people 
with  moral  and  physical,  as  well  as  mental  training.  Those  who 
have  not  looked  at  the  subject  closely  and  deeply  may  then  he 
surprised  to  find  that  the  number  of  those  who  are  receiving 
higher  education  has  increased  many  fold  and  that  the  univer- 
sities have  multiplied  their  power  and  scope  and  benefits  to  the 
land. 

I  note  in  a  recent  report  of  the  Commissioner  of  Education 
that  sixteen  institutions  for  agricultural  and  industrial  train- 
ing of  the  negro  in  the  South  are  valued  at  nearly  $5,000,000. 
The  growth  of  these  institutions,  and  their  like,  has  been  won- 
derful— the  demand  upon  them  almost  amazing — and  yet  they 
are  at  the  very  threshold  of  their  mission.  Who  can  measure 
the  hopefulness  of  this  one  side  of  industrial  education  .'  What 
may  not  this  come  to  mean  in  the  solution  of  the  problem  pecu- 
liar to  the  South,  made  doubly  difficult  because  so  misunder- 
stood ? 

Today  every  State  in  the  nation,  to  a  greater  or  less  extent, 
has  agricultural  education  as  an  accepted  item  among  its  edu- 
cational appropriations.  The  following  brief,  and  partial,  re- 
view of  the  agricultural  and  industrial  legislation  in  the  South- 
ern States  during  the  past  two  years  is  very  indicative  of  the 
increasing  popular  demand  for  industrial  training  in  the  South : 

Nearly  all  the  States  herein  mentioned  have  assented  to  the 
Congessional  Act  of  1907  for  increased  appropriations  to  the 
experiment  stations,  making  available  the  provisions  of  the 
Nelson  Act,  which  increases  the  amount  to  each  State  .$5,000  a 
year,  when  the  appropriation  will  become . $50,000  a  year,  and 
will  be  continued  permanently  at  that  rate. 

The  Alabama  Legislature  in  1907  appropriated  $1.000  an- 
nually for  farmers'  institutes:  increased  the  annual  appropria- 
tion for  each  of  the  nine  agricultural  schools  $2.000;  increased 
the  appropriations  for  farm  improvements,  and  included  ap- 
propriation of  $75,000  for  an  agricultural  building. 

In  Florida  the  State  aid  to  schools  was  increased  to  $(55,000 


MR.  COOK.  79 

for  1907-8-.  $10.000  was  apportioned  for  farmers'  institutes; 
$5,000  for  station  improvements :  $40.000  for  a  new  laboratory, 
and  a  further  recognition  of  industrial  training  in  the  uniform 
course  of  study. 

The  General  Assembly  of  Georgia  in  1907  passed  a  concur- 
rent resolution  recommending  appropriation  by  Congress  for 
industrial  instruction  and  the  year  before  established  a  School 
of  Agriculture  and  Mechanical  Arts  in  each  congressional  dis- 
trict, at  the  same  time  establishing  the  Industrial  and  Normal 
School  in  South  Georgia ;  made  a  special  appropriation  of 
$100,000  for  the  Agricultural  College,  and  provided  for  the 
reorganization  of  the  Board  of  Trustees. 

A  new  agricultural  building  was  begun  in  Kentucky  in 
1907,  and  the  Educational  Commission  appointed  last  year  is 
now  following  up  a  line  of  inquiry  that  promises  much  for  the 
cause  of  industrial  education. 

In  Louisiana  the  Legislature  authorized  the  employment  of 
a  farmers'  institute  conductor:  established  a  branch  experi- 
ment station;  instituted  a  Chair  of  Forestry  in  State  University; 
appropriated  $5.000  for  payment  of  premiums  at  State  Fair, 
and  a  $40.000  laboratory  was  begun. 

Maryland  inaugurated  commercial  courses  in  high  schools 
providing  $1.000  State  ;iid  for  such  schools,  and  the  Governor 
has  appointed  a  Committee  of  Five  on  Industrial  Education 
to  report  to  the  next  Legislature. 

The  Legislature  of  Mississippi  in  1908  made  appropriations 
for  additional  buildings  for  Industrial  College  and  Agricultural 
College:  authorized  the  establishment  of  an  agricultural  high 
school  in  each  county,  ot'i'ering  $1.000  State  aid  to  each,  and 
authorized  county  boards  to  otter  a  maximum  prize  of  $50  in 
the  corn  growing  contests. 

In  1907  the  County  Courts  of  Missouri  were  given  authority 
to  establish  agricultural  experiment  stations. 

Specific  authority  was  given  the  agricultural  colleges  of 
North  Carolina  to  receive  the  United  States  appropriations 
in  1907. 


80  CONFERENCE  FOR   EWTATION. 

Oklahoma  has  made  effective,  very  generously,  the  consti- 
tutional provisions  for  agricultural  and  industrial  training. 
The  $75,000  Morrill  Hall  has  been  erected;  the  Girls'  Industrial 
College  established ;  also  the  State  School  of  Mines,  with  an 
appropriation  of  $15,000,  and  provisions  for  farmers'  institutes, 
appropriating  $101,399. 

In  1907  the  number  of  scholarships  for  the  Agricultural 
College  of  South  Carolina  was  increased  from  124  to  164. 

Tennessee  appropriated,  in  1907,  $100,000  for  the  extension 
of  agricultural  education  and  an  additional  $40,000  to  establish 
a  station  in  Western  Tennessee. 

Texas  appropriated  for  this  work  $346,370  for  the  biennial 
term  just  closing,  the  largest  appropriation  for  industrial  edu- 
cation ever  made  by  that  State. 

In  1908  legislation  in  Virginia  was  very  encouraging;  $20.- 
000  was  made  an  annual  appropriation  for  maintaining  a  de- 
partment of  agriculture,  domestic  economy  and  manual  train- 
ing in  at  least  one  high  school  in  each  congressional  district; 
$75,000  was  appropriated  for  the  establishment  of  a  State 
Normal  and  Industrial  Training  School  for  Women.  The  De- 
partment of  Mines  was  added  to  the  Agricultural  College  with 
$6,000  for  equipment.  Not  least  in  the  advancement  in  Vir-. 
ginia  was  the  appointment  of  the  Educational  Commission  to 
report  to  the  next  Legislature. 

In  Arkansas  the  popular  demand  for  agricultural  and  in- 
dustrial instruction  has  been  multiplied  quite  recently,  and, 
as  in  the  case  in  many  States,  the  Farmers'  Union  has  made 
its  power  felt  in  this  direction.  The  scope  of  the  experiment 
station  has  been  broadened;  substations  have  been  established; 
the  agricultural  department  of  the  university  strenthened.  and 
elementary  agriculture  has  been  added  to  the  course  of  study 
for  rural  schorls. 

Governor  Donaghey  is  the  avowed  and  consistent  friend  of 
agricultural  instruction  and  has  made  the  advancement  of  in- 
dustrial training  a  part  of  his  administration  policy. 

The  General  Assembly,  still  in  session,  has  just  passed  a 


MR.  COOK.  81 

bill  authorizing  the  establishment  of  four  agricultural  schools 
and  appropriated  .tUi<>.0(*0  for  this  purpo.se.  The  general  ap- 
propriation bills  have  not  been  passed,  but  it  is  not  thought 
that  this  cause  will  suffer,  although  a  policy  of  economy  may 
mark  the  appropriations  for  the  ensuing  biennial  term. 

A  resolution  is  now  before  our  General  Assembly  to  au- 
thorize the  appointment  of  a  Commission  on  Education,  to  con- 
duct exhaustive  investigation  of  educational  conditions  similar 
to  ,the  commissions  that  are  now  doing  such  splendid  work  in 
Texas,  Virginia,  Maryland  and  Kentucky. 

Another  phase  of  agricultural  instruction,  which  has  proved 
alike  popular  and  beneficial  in  both  North  and  South,  is  the 
Boys'  Corn  Growing  Contests. 

The  Department  of  Education  in  Arkansas,  with  the  co- 
operation of  the  State  Commissioner  of  Agriculture,  the  State 
University,  the  Experiment  Station  and  the  National  Depart- 
ment, began  a  campaign  for  the  Boys'  Corn  Club  the  first  of 
this  year,  and  as  a  beginning  I  am  proud  to  say  over  five  thou- 
sand boys  in  Arkansas  have  entered  the  movement. 

I  am  just  in  receipt  of  a  communication  from  Dr.  O.  B. 
Martin,  assistant  in  farm  demonstration  work,  in  which  he 
writes  enthusiastically  of  the  Boys'  Corn  Clubs  in  the  South. 
The  U.  S.  Department  has  enlisted  over  a  hundred  County 
Superintendents  and  the  plan  is  behiLr  successfully  carried  on 
in  Mississippi.  Alabama.  Georgia.  North  Carolina.  Virginia,  Ok- 
lahoma, South  Carolina  and  Arkansas. 

If  this  movement  is  properly  developed  and  encouraged  in 
all  the  Southern  States  all  the  rural  boys  and  girls  may  be  en- 
listed in  farm  and  home  development  within  the  next  few  years. 
The  corn  and  cotton  growing  contests  by  the  youth  and  the 
farm  demonstrations  by  the  adult  farmer  will  soon  bring  the 
practical  .side  of  industrial  education  to  the  understanding  of 
•every  citizen  in  the  South.  They  will  understand  the  direct 
relation  between  such  industrial  education  and  the  dollar  mark, 
and  many  are  the  men  who  will  give  you  their  votes  from  that 
time  011  without  ever  inquiring  deeper. 

The  progress  herein  discussed  reaches  its  highest  point,  per- 


82  CONFERENCE  FOR  EDUCATION. 

haps,  in  Wisconsin  where1  the  average  annually  for  each  farm 
is  $1,260,  while  in  the  South  it  is  less  than  $160  net  gain  for 
each  farm.  The  climate,  the  soil,  the  moisture  and  the  atmos- 
phere afford  no  explanation  of  this  difference.  Nature,  on  the 
other  hand,  indicates  the  greater  productiveness  for  the  South 
rather  than  the  North.  The  difference  is  in  the  seed  selection, 
the  soil  preparation  and  the  cultivation.  The  entire  difference 
is  in  applied  industrial  education.  Yet  what  a  difference! 

The  South  is  less  understood  and  more  misunderstood  than 
any  other  section  of  our  country.  Our  resources  should  be  com- 
piled and  exploited  to  the  world.  Indeed,  to  the  whole  world, 
including  our  very  selves  and  our  neighbors !  What  number- 
less open  doors  of  opportunity  would  be  revealed  on  every  side 
by  geological  surveys  showing  the  wealth  of  our  minerals;  topo- 
graphical survey  showing  what  is  now  being  raised  and  what. 
can  be  produced ;  health  reports  showing  our  low  mortality ; 
weather  bureau  records  showing  our  climatic  conditions,  rain- 
fall, temperature  and  days  of  sunshine ;  a  census  showing  sparse- 
ly inhabited  regions,  and  maps  showing  streams,  railroads  and 
shipping  facilities.  Golden  opportunities,'  waiting  only  the 
trained  intellect  to  comprehend  and  the  trained  hand  to  grasp, 
yielding  a  bounteous  reward  out  of  all  proportion  to  the  easy 
conquest. 

In  each  State,  where  they  do  not  now  exist,  there  should  be 
a  real  university  which  is  striving  to  become  a  genuine  instru- 
ment of  service  for  its  constituency.  Such  an  institution  should 
be  the  source  of  the  true  exploitation  of  the  latent  wealth  in 
natural  resources  and  neglected  opportunities. 

The  University  of  Wisconsin  is  the  type,  when  through  its 
agricultural  and  industrial  leading  the  people  are  producing 
annually  over  $50,000,000  more  than  they  were  producing  when 
this  great  school  began  its  wonderful  development  under  the 
able  direction  of  President  Van  Hise  and  Dr.  Russell,  Dean  of 
the  Department  of  Agriculture. 

Before  any  system  of  higher  education  can  be  of  substantial 
advantage  to  farming  it  must  have  its  head  in  a  democratic  and 
a  sympathetic,  as  well  as  a  real  university.  The  university  must 


MR.  COOK.  83 

become  the  active  instrument  of  the  State.  To  bring  this  about 
there  must  be  a  strong  factor  in  the  Board  of  Trustees  so  keenly 
interested  in  agriculture  that  it  will  use  its  power  to  compel  the 
university  to  accomplish  the  really  great  agricultural  ends  which 
can  be  effected  in  no  other  way. 

The  National  Education  Association  has  added  the  Depart- 
ment of  Agriculture.  The  Farmers'  Union  and  the  Y.  M.  C.  A. 
have  joined  the  farm  demonstration  movement.  Every  force 
and  organization  for  educational  advancement  has  accepted  some 
phase  of  industrial  training  as  a  necessary  adjunct. 

Throughout  the  South  a  uradual  broadening  has  included 
industrial  education  (  f  some  form  in  every  division  of  the 
school  system.  There  have  been  laws  adding  elementary  agri- 
culture to  the  primary  schools,  establishing  agricultural  high 
schools,  adding  commercial  courses  and  mechanical  training  to 
other  high  schools,  and  appropriations  of  State  aid  for  all  such 
schools:  colleges  for  boys  and  girls,  named  mechanical,  indus- 
trial and  agricultural,  have  been  established:  agricultural  train- 
ing has  been  added  to  the  normal  school  courses  and  become  a 
part  of  teachers'  institutes:  farmers'  institutes  have  been  organ- 
ized: farm  demonstrations  among  the  adults  and  the  youth  have 
become  the  vogue:  universities  have  numbered  their  agricultural 
departments  amonir  their  strongest  i'mves.  The  growth  is  every- 
where. It  pervades  the  entire  fabric  of  the  South  today.  We 
have  only  to  crystallize  it  by  intelligent  supervision,  guard  it 
against  the  danger  of  heerming  faddish.  If  we  direct  this 
growth  along  the  lines  of  splendid  example  already  shown  by 
such  States  as  Wisconsin  we  need  not  curb  our  hope  nor  limit 
our  faith  in  the  result. 

In  conclusion.  I  do  not  believe  that  it  is  too  much  to  say. 
that  the  South  will  find  the  solution  of  many  of  its  most  vexing 
problems  already  being  (juietly  and  unobstrusively  worked  out 
most  happily  by  the  agricultural  and  industrial  educational 
movement,  which,  gigantic  and  powerful  as  it  is  today,  is  only 
at  the  beginning  of  its  glorious  history,  and  which  as  no  other 
force  is  speeding  that  irlad  day  when  the  dark  shadows  of  pri- 
vation and  the  gloom  of  ignorance  and  sloth  will  be  swept  from 


84  CONFERENCE  FOR   EDUCATION. 

the  farthermost  comer  and  our  entire  South  shall  bloom  in  the 
glory  of  wealth,  intelligence  and  honor  which  God  by  his  lavish 
gifts  of  natural  i  and  genial  dime  has  ever  intended  to 

be  our  portion. 

MR.  JOVXER — Now  ladies  and  gentlemen  we  will  not  detain 
you  much  longer.  I  have  pleasure  in  introducing  to  you  next 
the  official  head  of  the  educational  work  of  this  great  nation. 
He  is  a  welcome  guest  in  nvery  educational  gathering  in  the 
country7,  and  we  feel  honored  today  in  having  with  us  Dr.  Elmer 
Ellsworth  Brown,  United  States  Commissioner  of  Education, 
who  will  talk  to  us  on  "The  National  Program  in  Education." 

DR.  BROWN. 
THE  NATIONAL  PROGRAM  IN  EDUCATION. 

It  should  be  said  at  the  outset  that  so  long  as  education  is 
necessary  to  the  bringing  up  of  good  citizens  we  cannot  fail  to 
have  a  national  program  of  education  of  some  kind  or  other. 
But  we  should  add  immediately  that  no  one  who  understands 
our  American  system  of  government  is  likely  to  raise  any  ques- 
tion that  the  primary'  responsibility  for  the  conduct  of  educa- 
tion in  this  country  rests  with  the  several  States.  It  follows 
that  whatever  the  Federal  Government  may  do  for  education 
within  the  States,  it  must  do  by  way  of  reinforcement  and  fur- 
therance of  State  activities ;  and  that  whatever  any  of  the  States 
may  do  for  education  will  be  done  not  only  for  the  State  but 
for  the  Nation.  There  is  room  enough  here  for  considerable 
play,  back  and  forth,  in  the  relation  of  the  governmental  units 
concerned.  But  in  the  actual  situation  there  is  no  great  doubt 
that  the  rights  and  responsibilities  of  both  sides  are  abundantly 
secured.  We  can,  accordingly,  speak  with  the  greatest  freedom 
of  the  needs  of  this  time  regarding  the  education  of  our  citizens, 
who  are  at  once  citizens  of  the  Nation  and  of  the  State.  The 
obvious  need  is  that  the  activity  and  the  expenditures  of  both 
the  States  and  the  Nation  for  educational  purposes  shall  be 
largely  increased;  and  it  LS  our  conviction  that  in  making  such 


DR.  BROWS.  8-5 

increase  neither  side  will  seriously  infringe  upon  the  preroga- 
tives of  the  other. 

It  is  of  the  highest  importance  that  a  great  and  historic  Con- 
ference such  as  this,  representing  several  States,  which  together 
make  up  one  great  section  of  our  country,  should  contribute  in 
some  large  and  significant  way  to  an  understanding  of  our  new 
national  problem  in  education,  which  is  at  the  same  time  the 
problem  of  every  section  and  State  and  locality. 

It  will  appear  at  once  that  the  subject  which  I  have  chosen 
is  far  too  great  to  be  covered  in  this  hour.  I  can  only  single 
out  a  few  of  its  aspects  which  seem  to  me  of  especial  significance 
and  speak  of  them  with  the  utmost  brevity.  In  so  doing  I  shall 
speak  of  the  educational  service  of  both  State  and  Federal  gov- 
ernments as  belonging  equally  to  our  national  program  in  edu- 
cation. 

The  educational  activity  of  the  Federal  Government  has 
thus  far  taken  three  main  directions.  From  the  beginnings  of 
our  national  life  the  Congress  has  made  grants  of  land  to  the 
States  and  to  individual  institutions  for  educational  purposes. 
In  the  year  1867  the  National  Education  Office  was  established 
at  Washington.  For  the  past  forty  years  it  has  been  known  as 
the  Bureau  of  Education.  In  the  year  1890,  under  the  second 
Merrill  Act,  the  policy  of  making  direct  grants  in  money  for 
the  furtherance  of  education  in  the  several  States  was  entered 
upon,  such  grants  being  limited  hitherto  to  the  aid  of  agricul- 
tural and  mechanical  colleges.  Endowment,  aid  through  in- 
formation and  advice,  and  aid  through  the  payment  of  current 
expenses— these  are  the  three  forms  which  our  Federal  policy 
in  education  has  taken. 

I  pass  over  many  special  provisions  of  an  educational  char- 
acter. Some  of  these,  such  as  the  maintenance  of  schools  for 
our  American  Indians  and  the  training  of  officers  for  the  army 
and  navy,  and  several  others  equally  specialized  in  character, 
are  of  great  significance,  but  are  not  essential  to  the  present 
discussion.  Again,  in  limiting  the  discussion  to  the  three  gen- 
eral aspects  of  our  national  policy  which  have  been  mentioned, 
I  pass  over  two  of  these  three  and  shall  here  speak  only  of  the 


86  CONFERENCE  FOR  EDUCATION. 

policy,   now  nearly  two   decades  old,   of  annual   money   grants 
from  the  National  treasury  for  education  in  the  States. 

With  reference  to  this  policy  it  may  be  said  that  it  has  proved 
an  unqualified  success:  first,  in  that  it  has  greatly  advanced  the 
special  form  of  education  it  was  intended  to  encourage,  and, 
secondly,  in  that  it  has  quickened  the  sense  of  responsibility  in 
the  several  States  instead  of  accustoming  the  States  to  shift  re- 
sponsibility in  this  matter  to  the  United  States,  as  many  feared 
that  it  would  do.  Since  the  first  act  for  such  national  aid  was 
fully  carried  into  effect,  in  the  year  1900,  the  grants  of  the  na- 
tional government  for  such  institutions  have  increased  29 */?-, 
while  in  the  same  time  the  appropriations  for  the  same  institu- 
tions within  the  several  States  have  increased  iM-V  ,  . 

We  have  now,  accordingly,  a  well  established  policy  of  our 
federal  government  that  it  shall  encourage  certain  forms  of  edu- 
cation in  the  several  States  by  money  grants  in  annual  install- 
ments. Any  new  provision  for  federal  aid  will  be  in  the  nature 
of  an  extension  of  the  policy  so  established  and  not  in  the  nature 
of  a  new  departure. 

But  while  our  experience  with  this  federal  policy  is  encour- 
aging in  the  highest  degree  it  does  not  follow  that  we  should 
enter  upon  any  reckless  application  of  the  principle  involved. 
It  is  not  my  purpose  here  to  advocate  any  new  provision  for 
federal  aid,  but  rather  to  attempt  the  formulation  of  certain 
principles  which  should  guide  in  the  discussion  of  any  new 
proposal  for  such  federal  aid.  Permit  me  to  propose  for  your 
consideration  the  following  statement  of  those  principles: 

1.  The  federal  government  cannot  properly  undertake  the 
subsidizing  of  any  form  of  education  which  will  be  adequately 
cared  for  by  the  several  States,  within  a  reasonable  time,  with- 
out such  federal  aid. 

2.  The  federal  government  cannot  properly  aid  in  the  sup- 
port of  any  form  of  education  which  is  not  distinctly  required 
for  the  maintenance  of  some  national  interest  or  interests. 

3.  In  case  federal  aid  is  extended  to  any  form  of  education 
in  the  States  it  must  be  extended  in  such  manner  as  will  con- 


DK.  BROWN.  87 

serve  and  not  impair  the  general  system  of  educational  admin- 
istration in  each  of  the  States. 

These  principles  rest  upon  that  fundamental  requirement 
of  our  social  order,  in  both  State  and  Nation,  that  all  of  its  citi- 
zens shall  have  a  fair  chance  to  rise  and  to  share  in  the  enjoy- 
ment of  life  and  the  responsibilities  of  government  in  due 
proportion  to  their  native  endowments.  Those  native  endow- 
ments are  unduly  obscured  and  thwarted  where  they  are  not 
matched  with  corresponding  opportunities  for  education.  Our 
governmental  system  seeks  to  equalize  these  educational  oppor- 
tunities throughout  the  land. 

They  are  not  yet  equalized.  The  child  born  into  community 
A  has  only  one-half  or  it  may  be  one-quarter  or  one-tenth  of 
the  opportunity  to  realize  the  best  that  is  in  him,  for  himself 
and  for  the  general  good,  that  is  enjoy ed  by  the  child  born  into 
community  B.  "We  hold  that  the  defect  of  opportunity  should 
in  some  way  be  made  good,  for  the  sake  of  the  individual  citi- 
zens concerned,  but  still  more  for  the  general  welfare.  The 
general  welfare  is  involved  in  more  ways  than  one.  In  the  first 
place,  among  the  children  now  placed  at  disadvantage  there 
are  undoubtedly  some  who  might  exercise  leadership,  and  even 
notable  and  beneficent  leadership,  in  public  affairs,  if  only  they 
might  gain  possession  of  the  intellectual  apparatus  of  leader- 
ship. In  order  that  we  may  widen  the  competition  for  posi- 
tions of  leadership,  or,  in  other  words,  that  we  may  widen  the 
range  of  selection  of  superiorities  and  lessen  our  danger  of  fac- 
ing the  sharpened  needs  of  this  new  age  with  only  the  half- 
competent  in  command  at  many  a  critical  point,  we  need  to 
seek  and  find  and  foster  superior  talent  wherever  it  may  appear. 
This  is  particularly  true  if  we  are  to  maintain  our  higher  polit- 
ical ideals  at  their  best  estate.  In  the  second  place,  there  is 
need  that  those  who  may  not  be  called  upon  to  lead  shall  exer- 
cise the  highest  discretion  in  their  choice  of  leaders.  There  is 
as  much  need  of  a  grading  upward  of  the  education  of  constit- 
uencies as  there  is  of  a  grading  upward  of  the  education  of 
leaders,  never  forgetting  the  further  fact  that  from  these  con- 
stituencies are  to  come  the  future  leaders.  In  the  third  place, 


88  CONFERENCE  FOR  KorcA-nox. 

our  national  prosperity,  which  is  the  implement  by  wliich  we 
achieve  our  national  ideals,  is  chiefly  dependent  upon  the  qual- 
ity of  the  men  who  carry  on  our  commerce  and  industry.  Every 
year  we  must  scrutinize  more  closely  the  dements  of  our  eco- 
nomic efficiency  in  order  that  they  may  be  reinforced  at  the 
points  of  weakness.  For  all  of  these  reasons  it  is  incumbent 
upon  us  in  both  State  and  Nation  that  we  keep  up  a  continuous 
inquiry  as  to  the  educational  needs  which  are  most  urgent,  and 
the  ways  in  which  they  may  best  be  met.  A  continuous  inquiry, 
it  should  be,  and  not  an  occasional  and  spasmodic  inquiry.  In 
order  that  great,  national  needs  may  be  foraseen,  or  even  that 
present  needs  may  be  clearly  set  forth,  it  is  necessary  that  a 
national  lookout  be  maintained,  with  vastly  greater  facilities 
than  any  that  now  exist,  for  investigating  those  needs  and  show- 
ing the  ways  in  which  they  may  best  be  met.  I  think  we  have 
only  begun  to  see  and  utilize  the  functions  of  a  national  office 
of  educational  investigation. 

I  have  spoken  of  the  necessity  that  care  be  taken  to  main- 
tain at  its  highest  efficiency  in  each  of  the  States  the  form  of 
educational  administration  which  has  been,  shown  to  be  suited 
to  that  State.  This  is  a  matter  which  will  call  for  the  closest 
consideration  in  many  of  the  States  within  the  next  generation. 
Any  great  system  of  schools  heads  up  naturally  in  two  ways, 
one  of  them  scholastic,  the  other  administrative.  In  the  most 
of  our  States  of  the  South  and  West,  these  two  educational 
heads  of  the  State  are  on  the  one  hand  a  State  university  and 
on  the  other  hand  the  office  of  State  Superintendent  of  Public 
Instruction.  Alongside  of  the  State  university  there  is  some- 
times found  a  separate  State  college  of  agriculture  and  the  me- 
chanic arts,  and  sometimes  also  a  State  school  of  mines,  as  well 
as  one  or  more  State  normal  schools.  Various  duties  of  an  ad- 
ministrative character  are  more  and  more  devolved  upon  the 
faculties  and  managing  boards  of  our  State  universities.  They 
frequently  have  to  do  with  the  inspection  of  secondary  schools, 
and  they  sustain  a  variety  of  relationships  with  all  other  edu- 
cational institutions  within  the  State.  The  State  Superintend- 
ent of  Public  Instruction,  on  the  other  hand,  may  have  more 


DR.  BROWN.  89 

or  less  of  direct  control  over  the  educational  offices  of  counties, 
cities  and  lesser  administrative  units.  Xot  infrequently,  too, 
he  has  a  part,  cx-officio,  in  the  management  of  the  university 
and  other  higher  institutions  of  the  State.  The  higher  edu- 
cation, in  which  the  education  of  all  lower  grades  finds  its  ul- 
timate scholastic  fruitage  and  realization,  cannot  be  a  matter 
of  indifference  to  those  who  are  charged  wtih  the  administra- 
tion of  the  lower  schools.  At  times,  however,  it  is  necessary. 
i'»r  the  authorities  in  control  of  the  lower  schools  to  stand  for 
the  wider  interpretation  of  the  function  of  those  schools  as 
against  a  too  narrow  focusing  of  their  aims  upon  a  too  narrow 
entrance  requirement  of  the  higher  institutions. 

These  few  indications  of  the  varied  character  of  the  leader- 
ship and  direction  developed  in  our  State  educational  systems 
will  give  some  hint  of  the  complexity  of  this  problem  in  edu- 
cational administration.  It  is,  indeed,  cue  of  the  most  difficult 
problems  now  before  us :  it  is  also  one  of  the  most  inviting. 

The  times  demand  State  systems  of  educational  administra- 
tion which  shall  be  rich  in  ideas,  scientific  in  the  highest  sense, 
instinct  with  the  finest  spirit  of  literature  and  art:  which  shall 
on  the  other  hand  give  free  scope  to  the  best  executive  ability, 
providing  for  it  a  means  by  which  it  may  serve,  in  the  widest 
range,  the  economic,  the  political,  the  moral  welfare  of  the  State. 

This  brings  us  to  the  view  of  our  national  program,  that  it 
will  require  that  the  higher  directive  positions  in  each  of  the 
States  be  placed  and  kept  upon  the  highest  plane.  The  intricate 
problem  of  State  organization  for  educational  purposes  cannot 
be  mastered,  in  the  presence  of  our  growing  needs,  by  men  of 
any  merely  conventional  and  common  type.  To  carry  out  in 
full  the  program  upon  which  we  have  entered  we  must  have  in 
our  higher  educational  positions  men  of  equal  frrce  and  caliber 
with  those  required  by  the  Bench,  the  Legislature,  the  Oovernor- 
ship,  by  the  higher  positions  in  national  affairs,  in  the  profes- 
sions of  medicine,  law  and  the  ministry,  in  directive  industry, 
engineering  and  finance. 

President  Alderman,  in  a  recent  article  in  the  World's  Work, 


90  CONFERENCE  FOR  EDUCATION. 

made  the  following  declaration   with   reference  to  the   educa- 
tional history  of  the  New  South: 

The  ability  of  this  generation  to  recognize  education  as  some- 
thing larger  than  mere  learning  or  even  discipline,  to  perceive  it  as 
a  great  force  molding  national  character,  has  caused  the  enlistment 
into  this  field  of  work  of  young  men  and  young  women  of  creative 
capacity  and  exalted  character,  who,  under  other  conditions  in  south- 
ern history,  would  have  instinctively  turned  to  political  and  social 
fields  for  distinction  and  service. 

You  who  have  followed  so  intimately  the  course  of  events  in 
Southern  education  know  how  abundantly  this  declaration  is 
justified.  An  educational  movement  associated  with  the  names 
of  Curry  and  Ruffner  and  Orr  and  Mclver  and  William  Preston 
Johnson,  not  to  mention  the  great  numb'er  of  their  able  asso- 
ciates who  have  passed  away  with  them  nor  any  of  those  who 
are  still  upon  the  scene,  could  not  be  other  than  distinguished 
and  influential  even  in  this  day  of  notable  movements. 

Now  what  I  desire  to  emphasize  is  the  fact  that  this  ten- 
dency, which  unusual  circumstances  have  accentuated  in  the 
South,  is  one  which  should  by  all  means  be  accentuated  all  over 
our  land.  President  Taft  remarked  in  a  recent  address,  that 
the  teaching1  profession  has  already  erme  to  be  the  greatest  of 
all  professions.  It  is  a  fact,  which  any  one  can  observe,  that 
a  fair  number  of  our  ablest  men  and  women  are  going-  into  this 
profession  .as  they  have  gone  into  it  for  generations  past ;  but 
there  are  also  circumstances  of  great  influence  which  tend  to 
deter  able  and  ambitious  young  people  from  entering'  an  edu- 
cational occupation,  or  prevent  them  firm  continuing'  in  it 
when  once  they  have  entered  it.  The  growing  educational  re- 
sponsibilities of  all  our  States  now  urgently  demand  that  edu- 
cation shall  have  at  least  a  fair  chance  along  wilh  other  forms 
of  public  service,  in  the  competition  for  the  highest  talent  which 
the  age  affords.  Thomas  Arnold  and  Benjamin  Jowett  were 
among  the  makers  of  England  in  the  nineteenth  century.  Tim- 
othy D wight  and  Mark  Hopkins  and  Samuel  Taylor  and  Francis 
Wayland  and  Horace  Mann  and  Henry  P.  Tappan  and  Louis 
Agassi/,  were  among  the  makers  of  our  national  character  in 
the  nineteenth  century.  That  which  has  been  more  or  less  excep- 


DR.  BROWN.  91 

tional  in  the  past,  we  look  to  see  as  a  common  characteristic  of 
our  future,  that  public  men  of  the  highest  attainments  shall 
find  their  best  leverage  for  the  betterment  of  public  affaire  in 
educational  positions. 

I  have  spoken  of  the  need  of  a  more  intimate  combination 
between  the  scholastic  and  the  administrative  sides  of  State 
educational  management.  The  finest  opening  for  a  large  career 
in  this  field  is  of  course  always  presented  to  the  man  who 
can  combine  scholarship  with  executive  capacity.  Even  such 
demand  for  this  combination  as  has  existed  hitherto,  and  that 
is  chiefly  the  demand  of  college  and  university  presidencies,  has 
tended  to  develop  in  our  country  this  finer  type  of  educational 
leader.  Because  of  this  combination,  cast  in  a  peculiarly  im- 
pressive personal  mold.  President  Elliot  was  recently  described 
by  Senator  Root  as  the  foremost  citizen  of  his  country 
outside  of  official  life.  There  is  a  marked  tendency  in 
our  American  universities,  particularly  in  our  State  uni- 
versities, 'to  a  requirement  of  some  knowledge  of  affairs  and 
ability  to  deal  with  affairs  on  the  part  of  professors,  whose 
occupation  is  primarily  academic.  The  superintendency  of  our 
State  and  city  school  systems  may  be  expected  to  make  the  de- 
mand for  a  combination  of  scholarship  and  executive  power  in 
larger  measure  within  the  coming  years,  and  here  again  it  may 
be  expected  that  the  demand  will  in  some  degree  call  forth  the 
supply.  But  there  should  be  also  a  fair  opportunity  in  the 
educational  field  for  high  administrative  abilities  joined  with 
only  moderate  scholarship,  and  for  high  scholarship  joined  with 
little  or  no  capacity  for  affairs.  It  would  be  unfortunate  if 
our  universities  ceased  to  offer  a  career  for  great  scholars  ir- 
respective of  their  personal  participation  in  administrative  con- 
cerns. *  This  is  a  problem  of  no  small  magnitude  for  the  man- 
aging authorities  of  our  universities.  I  have  no  doubt  that  oil 
the  whole  the  tendency  to  place  a  premium  upon  the  broader 
type  of  man  in  the  making  up  of  university  faculties,  the  type 
of  man  who  both  knows  much  and  can  do  much,  is  a  whole- 
some tendency  and  a  characteristic  American  tendency.  But 
the  main  thimr  is  that,  both  in  the  universities  and  in  the  of- 


92  CONFERENCE  FOR  EDUCATION. 

fices  of  superintendents  of  schools,  there  shall  be  offered  a  fair 
and  extended  career  for  those  who,  either  by  scholarship  or  by 
power  of  accomplishment,  or  by  both  of  these  together,  are 
exceptionally  well  fitted  to  serve  the  public  good. 

Not  only  .the  State  super  intend  ency,  but  the  superinten- 
dency  of  city  and  of  county  schools  should  be  exalted  in  our 
time;  not  only  that  the  offer  of  a  career  may  draw  strong  men 
into  this  occupation,  but  also  because  the  improvement  of  our 
schools  is  closely  concerned  with  the  improvement  of  such  near- 
at-hand  supervision.  We  are  disposed  to  recognize  the  impor- 
tance of  such  supervisory  work  in  the  case  of  our  cities  and 
towns.  It  should  be  equally  recognized  in  the  case  of  our  rural 
schools,  with  which  county  supervision,  and  in  some  portions 
of  our  country  town  supervision,  has  most  to  do. 

We  should  not  indeed  be  satisfied  with  provision  for  su- 
pervising the  work  of  our  country  schools  which  should  fall 
far  short  in  efficiency  of  the  provision  made  for  supeuvision  of 
our  city  schools.  This  means,  in  addition  to  the  work  of  county 
superintendents  and  similar  officers,  an  oversight  by  such  su- 
pervisors of  special  subjects  as  are  employed  in  city  school  sys- 
tems. Any  great  advance  in  the  teaching  of  special  subjects 
in  rural  schools — music,  drawing,  manual  training  and  the  rest, 
and  particularly  any  general  advance  in  the  teaching  of  those 
subjects  which  lie  nearest  to  the  industrial  life  of  farming 
communities —will  call  for  the  employment  of  a  goodly  num- 
ber of  competent  supervisors,  who  shall  be  at  work  continually 
in  the  field,  passing  from  school  to  school  and  giving  assistance 
and  advice  to  the  teachers  regularly  employed  in  those  schools. 
This  I  believe  is  one  of  the  large  practical  subjects  calling  for 
attention  in  almost  every  part  of  the  land. 

The  argument  which  calls  for  the  opening  up  of  larger 
careers  for  educational  workers  in  supervisory  positions,  counts 
equally  for  the  raising  of  standards  and  the  betterment  of  op- 
portunities in  the  ordinary  teaching  force  of  the  country.  The 
need  of  adequate  provision  for  the  training  of  teachers  in 
normal  schools  and  other  professional  institutions  is  obvious 
enough,  and  must  be  often  emphasized.  I  should  like  simply 


DR.  BROWN.  93 

to  suggest  the  importance  of  adequate  provision  by  which  par- 
tially trained  teachers,  who  have  demonstrated  their  capacity 
for  teaching,  may  be  encouraged  to  reach  a  higher  grade  of 
preparation  by  withdrawing  from  active  work  for  a  time  and 
going  on  to  some  higher  educational  institution.  To  carry  out 
such  a  plan  as  this  would  undoubtedly  involve  considerable 
expenditure,  for  a  teacher  who  is  already  successful  to  a  fair 
degree,  particularly  if  he  has  taken  on  the  responsibilities  of 
family  life,  cannot  give  up  even  for  a  single  year  the  earning 
of  the  regular  income  which  his  teaching  yields,  unless  his  sup- 
port for  the  time  being  is  assured  by  some  form  of  scholarship 
or  other  stipend.  But  I  know  of  no  other  way  in  which  the 
teaching  profession  could  be  made  more  attractive  for  ambi- 
tious and  capable  young  men  than  through  some  provision  un- 
der which  any  unusual  capacity  which  may  have  been  demon- 
strated in  actual  teaching  shall  find  the  encouragement  of  op- 
portunity to  make  preparation  for  a  higher  grade  of  teaching. 

The  increase  of  opportunity  and  recognition  for  the  teach- 
ing body  of  this  country,  which  I  have  sought  to  emphasize,  is 
all  the  more  requisite-  at  this  time  because  of  the  larger  respon- 
sibilities, already  referred  to.  which  this  new  age  is  forcing 
upon  our  education;:!  administration.  Let  us  now  note  briefly 
the  direction  which  some  of  these  new  responsibilities  are  taking: 

The  whole  altitude  of  our  time  toward  juvenile  delinquency 
has  changed.  AVe  are  coming  to  have  a  new  criminal  jurispru- 
dence so  far  as  our  younger  population  is  concerned.  The  ju- 
venile court  is  typical  of  this  change.  The  prime  business  of 
the  juvenile  court  is  not  punishment,  but  moral  education.  In 
every  possible  way  this  juvenile  jurisprudence  concerns  itself 
with  educating  wayward  children  out  of  their  evil  ways  by 
keeping  them  in  the  ordinary  day  schools  if  possible,  or  by  the 
agency  of  special  schools  where  these  are  indispensable.  By 
such  means  we  are  seeking  to  prevent  the  waste  of  that  most 
precious  thing,  human  character,  particularly  character  in  the 
making,  with  all  its  imaginable  possibilities  for  good  or  ill. 
This  attitude  toward  juvenile  delinquency  is  influencing  our 
attitude  toward  adult  delinquency.  While  the  case  is  by  no 


94  CONFERENCE  FOR   EDUCATION. 

means  so  hopeful  here,  some  considerable  percentage  of  hope 
still  remains,  and  our  modern  society  is  concerned  with  mobiliz- 
ing every  possible  educational  force  to  the  end  of  making  sure 
whatever  of  hope  the  case  of  the  adult  delinquent  may  present. 

Education  is  coming  to  be  more  immediately  concerned  with 
the  prosperity  of  our  industries.  The  near  view  of  industrial 
prosperity  would  be  that  every  hour  of  labor  got  from  a  hu- 
man being,  from  the  earliest  age  at  which  labor  can  be  per- 
formed, is  so  much  of  gain  to  the  wealth  of  the  community.  A 
larger  view  is  now  finding  its  justification.  In  this  view,  every 
day's  labor  beyond  the  strength  of  the  growing  child  lessens 
the  total  contribution  of  his  lifetime  to  the  wealth  of  the  com- 
munity. Or,  stated  in  broader  terms,  the  labor  which  lowers 
the  health  or  hope  or  moral  strength  of  a  people  yields  small 
wealth  in  this  present  time  at  the  expense  of  larger  wealth 
that  might  be  ours  in  time  to  come,  and  at  the  still  greater  ex- 
pense of  that  which  men  seriously  prize  beyond  all  wealth.  Ac- 
cordingly, we  are  keeping  children  out  of  our  industries  until 
they  can  participate  in  them  without  ultimate  waste.  But  this 
is  only  negative  and  only  the  beginning.  ,  We  save  their  time 
from  labor  for  education.  But  we  are  bringing  education 
nearer  to  our  industries,  which  means  not  only  that  when  these 
children  come  to  their  work  they  will  labor  more  efficiently. 
but  that  they  will  find  more  of  interest  in  their  work  because 
they  will  find  in  it  ideas  which  have  already  become  interesting 
in  the  life  of  the  school.  In  some  of  our  industries  this  amounts 
even  to  making  the  industry  itself  educational  because  it  is 
approached  with  an  intelligence  capable  of  finding  the  ideas 
which  are  in  it  and  following  them  out  to  larger  ideas.  The 
immediate  result  of  such  a  course  is  the  making  of  a  better 
manhood  in  the  industries,  but  an  after  result  and  an  inevit- 
able result  will  be  to  make  the  industries  more  profitable  to  the 
community. 

The  prevention  of  the  waste  of  child  life  in  industrial  em- 
ployments lies  close  to  the  conservation  of  health  in  the  com- 
munity at  large.  Here  again  we  are  making  our  appeal  less 
to  the  therapeutics  of  the  physician  and  more  to  the  combined 


DR.  BROWN.  95 

hygienic  instruction  of  the  physician  and  the  teacher.  The  in- 
terest excited  in  the  campaign  against  tuberculosis  by  the  re- 
cent Intel-national  Congress  at  Washington  has  lent  an  immeas- 
urable emphasis  to  the  view  that  our  education  is  to  make  for 
public  health. 

These  arc  but  a  few  of  the  ways  in  which  we  are  becoming 
more  dependent  for  the  realization  of  aims  which  are  vital  and 
precious  to  our  national  life,  upon  the  prosecution  of  a  larger 
program  of  national  education. 

Thus  far  we  have  spoken  of  the  cooperation' of  the  States 
and  the  Nation  in  making  educational  systems  which  shall  be 
strong  enough  to  meet:  the  demands  which  modern  society  makes 
upon  public  education:  and  emphasis  has  been  laid  upon  the 
view  that  men  and  women  of  high  character  and  ability  shall 
be  brought  into  the  teaching  profession  and  trained  for  it  and 
encouraged  to  remain  with  it.  and  that  those  who  show  unusual 
fitness  for  this  calling  shall  be  offered  unusual  opportunities 
fo»-  higher  training  and  for  the  exercise  of  higher  responsibili- 
ties. Now  let  us  go  on  to  say  that  the  principle  of  fair  oppor- 
tunity for  all  requires  that  we  do  for  the  children  of  the  land 
what  it  is  p'oprsed  that  we  do  for  the  teachers  of  the  land, 
namely,  that  we  shall  give  to  all  a  better  opportunity  for  an 
education  than  the  majority  now  receive,  and  that  we  shall  give 
to  those  who  show  unusual  promise  an  opportunity  of  making 
the  most  of  the  gift  that  is  in  them.  This  would  me:iu,  in  part, 
only  the  carrying  out  rf  the  purprse  of  Thomas  Jefferson,  as 
set  forth  in  his  "Notes  on  the  State  of  Virginia:" 

These  schools  (are)  to  be  under  a  visitor,  who  is  annually  to 
choose  the  boy,  of  best  genius  in  the  school,  of  those  whose  parents 
are  too  poor  to  give  them  further  education,  and  to  send  him  forward. 
Of  the  boys  thus  sent  in  any  one  year,  the  trial  is  to  be  made  at  the 
grammar  school  one  or  two  years,  and  the  best  genius  of  the  whole 
selected,  and  continued  six  years,  and  the  residue  dismissed.  By 
this  means  twenty  of  the  best  geniuses  will  be  raked  from  the  rub- 
bish annually,  and  be  instructed,  at  the  public  expense,  so  far  as  the 
grammar  schools  go.  At  the  end  of  six  years'  instruction  one-half 
are  to  be  discontinued,  *  *  *  and  the  other  half,  who  are  to  be 
chosen  for  the  superiority  of  their  parts  and  disposition,  are  to  be 
sent  and  continued  three  years  in  the  study  of  such  sciences  as  they 


96  CONFERENCE  FOR   EDTCATTON. 

shall  choose.  The  ultimate  result  of  the  whole  scheme  of  education 
would  be  the  teaching  all  the  children  of  the  State  reading,  writing 
and  common  arithmetic;  turning  out  ten  annually  of  superior  genius; 
turning  out  ten  others,  annually,  of  still  superior  parts,  who,  to  those 
branches  of  learning,  shall  have  added  such  of  the  sciences  as  their 
genius  shall  have  led  them. 

But  it  would  mean  in  addition  that  unusual  abilities  are  to 
be  fostered  and  unusual  defects,  physical,  mental  and  moral, 
are  to  be  cared  for  by  a  great  variety  <>f  scholastic  provision. 
For  in  a  democracy  all  personal  worth,  both  high  and  low.  is 
precious,  and  the  public  good  requires  that  it  be  economized 
and  conserved. 

Of  the  other  .aspects  of  our  national  program,  there  is  time 
to  speak  of  but  one,  and  that  can  be  touched  only  with  the 
greatest  brevity.  Our  national  tradition,  our  national  character. 
calls  not  only  for  the  cooperation  of  State  and  federal  govern- 
ments in  educational  affairs:  it  calls  equally  for  cooperation 
between  public  and  private  agencies.  While  education  is  un- 
mistakably recognized  as  a  public  concern,  in  State  and  Nation, 
many  of  the  most  important  steps  in  its  prosecution  have  been 
taken  and  are  to  be  taken  by  non-governmental  bodies.  Not 
only  are  teaching  institutions,  particularly  colleges  and  univer- 
sities, organized  under  separate  management  and  control.  We 
now  see  our  school  systems  paralleled  by  influential  auxiliary 
organizations  of  parents  and  other  interested  citizens.  And 
great  national  boards  have  been  charged  with  the  administra- 
tion of  immense  endowments  for  the  furtherance  of  special  ed- 
ucational ends  or  for  the  encouragment  of  education  generally. 
The  magnitude  of  some  of  these  endowments  and  the  educa- 
tional insight  displayed  in  their  management  have  given  them 
a  decided  influence  in  the  shaping,  at  certain  points,  of  our 
educational  policy.  It  is  my  personal  conviction  that  national 
benefits  of  the  highest  order  have  been  conferred  through  these 
endowments.  I  wish  only  to  point  out  the  main  proposition  of 
which  this  is  but  a  corollary,  that  the  public  provision  for  edu- 
cational advancement  must  at  least  keep  pace  with  the  pro- 
vision other  than  public,  in  order  that  education  with  us  may 
continue  to  be  primarily  a  concern  of  all  of  the  people.  It  is 


DR.  BROWN.  97 

in  this  very  spirit,  if  I  mistake  not.  that  the  great  new  educa- 
tional foundations  in  this  country  are  administered.  Every 
private  endowment  so  administered  is  to  be  welcomed,  and  every 
aid  from  independent  organizations  of  every  kind,  so  that  our 
one  great  dominant  national  interest  of  education  may  fulfill 
itself  in  many  ways. 

The  work  in  its  entirety  is  too  great  for  our  available  re- 
sources in  money  and  in  men.  too  great  even  for  any  resources 
which  can  be  made  immediately  available.  We  shall  inevitably 
suffer  many  disappointments  and  learn  anew  to  be  glad  for 
partial  successes,  but  we  shall  not  stop  short  of  a  great  advance 
upon  anything-  which  has  thus  far  been  attained.  We  shall 
work  with  greater  hope  and  confidence  for  our  meeting  in  such 
conferences  as  this.  Enough  has  already  been  done  in  this 
twentieth  century  to  assure  us  that  the' larger  program  is  not 
altogether  a  dream,  and  we  shall  go  forward  enlarging  that 
program  lest  at  any  time  our  actual  accomplishment  should 
threaten  to  overtake  our  ideals. 

MR.  JOYXKK  —  We  have  assurances  that  we  shall  have  the 
pleasure  of  hearing  about  the  great  movement  in  Texas  from 
Mr.  Ousley.  editor  of  the  Fort  Worth  paper,  tonight.  You  have 
been  so  kind,  so  attentive  and  so  patient,  that  in  justice  to  him 
and  in  justice  to  you  we  are  going  to  postpone  his  subject  until 
tonight. 

The  meeting  is  adjourned. 

4 


98  CONFERENCE  FOR   EDUCATION. 


THIRD  SESSION, 
THURSDAY  EVENING,  APRIL  15,  1909. 


MR.  OGDEN— Ladies  and  gentlemen:  Though  our  audience 
seems  to  be  increasing  in  size  every  minute,  we  have  already 
gone  beyond  the  limit  set  by  George  Washington  in  allowing 
five  minutes  for  difference  in  time  pieces. 

There  has  been  a  change  in  our  program  because  of  the  ex- 
tended time  occupied  by  the  meeting  this  morning.  Mr.  Ousley 
has  kindly  consented  to  stay  over  in  order  that  he  may  present 
his  subject  this  evening.  We  therefore  have  the  pleasure  of 
hearing  at  the  opening  from  Mr.  Ousley,  of  Fort  Worth,  Texas, 
editor  of  the  Fort  Worth  Record  and  President  of  the  Confer- 
ence for  Education  in  Texas,  the  interesting  story  of  the  de- 
velopment and  success  of  that  conference.  We  now  have  the 
pleasure  of  hearing  from  Mr.  Ousley  the  story  of  its  oruaui/a- 
tion  and  its  work: 

i 
MR.  OUSLEY. 

THE  EDUCATIONAL  CAMPAIGN  IN  TEXAS. 

Texas,  in  common  with  other  Southern  States,  had  Been  com- 
pelled by  the  wreck  and  waste  of  war  to  give  one  whole  genera- 
tion, one-third  of  a  century  cf  energy  and  aspiration,  to  the 
problem  of  meat  and  bread.  The  pioneer  first  builds  a  hut  to 
shelter  his  family  from  the  sun  and  snow,  then  clears  the  ground 
and  seeds  the  soil,  and  puts  even  the  children  to  the  furrow  and 
the  harvest.  The  destitute  men  of  the  post  bellum  wilderness 
of  material  and  civil  conditions  faced  a  situation  infinitely  more 
difficult,  desperate  and  appalling.  Instead  of  the  virgin  forest 
for  houses  and  fuel  were  the  ashes  of  the  military  torch  and  the 
debris  of  the  social  revolution.  Instead  of  the  fertility  of  the 
untouched  earth  was  the  sterlility  of  an  exhausted  soil.  In- 
stead of  the  bounding  spirit  of  advenlnre  was  the  broken  heart 
of  failure.-  Instead  of  the  flowers  and  sonirs  of  the  wildwood 


MR.  OUSLEY.  99 

\vcn<  tln>  gray  moss  upon  the  dead  pine  and  the  weeping  of 
Rachel  for  her  children. 

I  would  despise  myself  if  in  this  presence,  or  anywhere,  out 
of  passion  or  prejudice  or  maudlin  sentiment,  I  should  even 
unwittingly  fan  to  flame  again  the  faintest  spark  of  a  section- 
alism almost  forgotten  and  wholly  forgiven,  thank  God.  in  the 
renewed  fraternity,  the  generous  helpfulness  and  mutual  con- 
cern for  the  common  glory  of  our  common  country  in  all  its 
parts  which  this  blessed  occasion  voices.  But  I  would  he  forced 
to  confess  in  shame  and  humiliation  an  educational  backward- 
ness and  sloth  amounting  almost  to  crime  upon  the  part  of  the 
South  if  I  did  not  remind  myself  and  you  that  not  indifference 
but  necessity,  not  a  wanton  truancy,  but  the  ball  and  chain  of 
financial  and  social  distress  has  hindered  our  progress;  and 
that  is  why  we  have  limped  while  other  States  have  leaped  in 
the  march  of  education.  I  must  also  remind  you  that  we  have 
shared,  share  and  share  alike,  the  small  taxes  we  have  been  able 
to  pay  with  the  children  of  our  one  time  slaves.  My  State 
alone  gives  to  its  negroes,  who  pay  only  an  inappreciable  farth- 
ing' of  taxes,  more  than  a  million  dollars  a  year  for  education, 
besides  the  local  taxes  of  cities  and  school  districts.  And  we 
repudiate  the  false  doctrine  preached  by  misguided  zealots  that 
the  descendants  of  our  black  mammies  shall  receive  in  educa- 
tion only  what  they  contribute  in  taxes.  We  do  not  murmur 
that  we  must  bear  the  white  man's  burden,  but  when  the  ac- 
counts of  our  performance  are  cast  up  by  ourselves  or  our 
critics,  we  insist  that  the  credits  as  well  as  the  debits  be  entered 
upon  the  ledger.  Consider  not  what  we  have  not  done,  but 
what  we  have  done  and  the  tools  with  which  we  have  wrought. 

But  while  a  full  comprehension  of  our  conditions  and  a 
fair  estimate  of  our  achievements  will  justify  and  even  glorify 
the  educational  status  of  the  South,  it  will  not  excuse  us  to 
offer  such  extenuation  as  a  continuing  cause  for  hindrance.  We 
are  no  longer  poor  or  distressed.  Plenty  smiles  in  every  door- 
way where  thrift  abides;  opportunity  beckons  to  every  willing 
hand,  and  fortune  waits  upon  every  exceptional  effort.  The 
land  is  waxing  fat.  Financially  and  industrially  the  South  is 
beginning  to  rejoice  as  a  strong  man  to  run  a  race. 


100  CONFERENCE  FOR  EDUCATION. 

In  the  literacy  of  native  whites  over  10  years  of  age  the 
Southern  States  have  ranked  from  thirty-fifth  to  forty-ninth 
among  the  States  of  the  Union,  and  about  as  low  in  other  stand- 
ard measurements  of  public  educational  effort.  But  he  is  poorly 
informed  who  does  not  understand  that  this  is  not  an  accepted 
status;  it  is  an  unwelcome  but  inevitable  consequence  of  a  ca- 
lamity which  all  the  foresight  and  statesmanship  of  America 
could  not  avert,  but  which  the  inherent  aspiration,  the  inher- 
ited culture  and  the  reviving  strength  of  the  South  will  cure 
with  tlie  same  patience,  resolution,  intelligence  and  dispateli 
that  we  have  cured  the  blight  of  material  waste  and  the  scourge 
of  social  and  political  chaos. 

Texas  is  already  thrilling  with  the  red  blood  of  a  new  in- 
tellectual birth,  and  the  commonwealth  that  in  its  first  estate 
as  a  republic  boasted  the  greatest  percentage  of  educated  citi- 
zens of  any  organized  society  upon  the  earth  dares  to  enter 
upon  the  ambitious  undertaking  of  soon  repeating  that  achieve- 
ment among  the  States  of  the  Union.  In  two  years  we  have 
made  twenty  years  of  ordinary  educational  progress,  and  in 
two  veal's  more  I  have  reason  to  hope  that  we  shall  do  as  well. 

A  few  years  ago  we  began  to  take  the  measure  of  our  edu- 
cational stature.  Besides  the  besetments  and  hindrances  com- 
mon to  all  Southern  States,  our  people  suffered  under  a  delu- 
sion innocently  but  almost  fatefully  cultivated  by  our  holiday 
orators  and  immigration  boomers.  The  founders  of  the  repub- 
lic had  dedicated  for  public  school  purposes  an  empire  of  land 
which  constitutes  the  greatest  permanent  public  school  fund 
of  any  State  in  the  Union.  By  sales  and  leases  its  investment 
reckoning  has  reached  the  value  of  more  than  $40,000,000  and 
it  is  far  short  of  its  final  proportions.  So  rich  an  inheritance 
naturally  excited  our  pride  and  became  the  theme  of  such  boast- 
ing that  many  of  our  people  had  amost  concluded  that  no  local 
taxation  was  necessary.  But  the  income  from  $40,000,000  was 
a  beggarly  maintenance  for  1,000,000  school  children  and  many 
years  ago  it  was  supplemented  by  a  State  educational  tax  which 
yielded  as  much  more.  Still  that  was  far  short  of  enough  to 
maintain  schools  for  the  minimum  six  months  required  l>y  con- 


MR.  OUSLEY.  101 

stitutional  mandate.  The  cities  and  independent  or  separately 
constructed  school  districts  under  our  system  had  maintained 
excellent  public  schools  for  eight  to  ten  months,  but  until  the 
new  educational  movement  energized  and  liberalized  our  peo- 
ple the  ordinary  district  school  did  not  average  five  months. 
Even  the  common  school  districts  that  desired  to  pay  a  gener- 
ous local  school  tax  were  unable  to  do  so,  because  our  Con- 
stitution placed  a  limitation  of  20  cents  on  the  $100  for  local 
school  taxes  in  common  school  districts.  This  limitation  upon 
rural  school  taxation  was  one  of  the  cruelties  of  reactionary 
statesmanship  deemed  necessary  by  the  framers  of  our  Consti- 
tution of  1875  as  a  safeguard  against  the  loot  and  corruption 
of  reconstruction 

For  the  last  decade  or  more  a  few  earnest  men  have  been 
preaching  the  gospel  of  more  generous  educational  support  and 
a  reformed  educational  system.  They  watched  and  prayed  and 
worked  for  the  time  when  a  crusade  might  be  hopefully  inaug- 
urated. In  February.  1907.  it  was  deemed  opportune  to  sound 
the  call  to  the  militant  intelligence  and  patriotism  of  the  State. 
Accordingly  and-fittingly  on  the  birthday  of  the  Father  of  our 
Country  the  Conference  for  Education  in  Texas  was  organized 
in  the  capital  city.  There  was  a  goodly  attendance  of  progres- 
sive teachers  and  sympathetic  laymen,  and  enthusiastic  enlist- 
ment of  those  who  have  the  courage  to  undertake  a  worthy 
effort  and  a  generous  contribution  in  mom\v  and  service.  The 
campaign  was  planned  comprehensively  against  the  whole  mass 
of  inefficiency  and  insufficiency  in  every  department  of  public 
and  private  education,  for  the  outlook  of  the  generals  of  the 
movement  was  through  a  decade  or  as  many  years  as  were  nec- 
essary to  approximate  the  ideal  of  a  thoroughly  and  univer- 
sally enlightened  people  as  the  only  assurance  of  an  enduring 
democracy  and  the  only  sure  relief  from  the  madness  of  com- 
mercialism running  amuck.  Knowing  them  as  I  do  I  am  war- 
ranted in  saying  that  they  are  all  tall,  far-seeing  men:  strong, 
unfearing  men  such  as  builded  this  republic  and  our  great 
commonwealth. 

The  details  of  tactics  and  effort  were  referred  to  an  execu- 


102  CONFERENCE  FOR  EDUCATION. 

tive  board  with  plenary  powers  which  immediately  organized 
and  concentrated  its  efforts  upon  two  distinct  measures.  As 
a  consequence  of  the  renewed  educational  spirit  which  the  Con- 
ference represented,  and  to  which  the  Conference  was  now  to 
give  direction,  there  was  pending  in  the  Legislature,  then  in 
session,  a  bill  for  county  supervision  and  a  joint  resolution  for 
the  submission  of  a  constitutional  amendment  raising  the  limit 
of  local  rural  school  taxation  from  20  cents  to  not  more  than 
50  cents,  at  the  option  of  a  majority  of  tax-paying  voters.  Ear- 
nest advocacy  secured  the  prompt  enactment  of  the  county  su- 
pervision bill  and  the  submission  of  the  local  tax  amendment. 
Then  the  obvious  work  for  the  Conference  was  to  promote  the 
adoption  of  the  tax  amendment,  because  that  went  to  the  very 
root  of  inefficiency  in  the  country  schools. 

The  Executive  Board  first  secured  funds  and  subscriptions 
which  were  sufficient  basis  for  the  hope  that  the  campaign  could 
be  financed.  That  it  was  financed  justified  their  faith  in  the 
generosity  and  the  patriotism  of  the  teachers  and  friends  of 
education.  An  office  was  opened,  a  general  agent  was  employed 
and  the  work  began.  As  indicating  the  purpose  and  the  faith 
of  the  board,  it  may  be  mentioned  that  they 'personally  guaran- 
teed the  salary  of  the  general  agent  for  a  term  of  three  years. 

A  succinct  chronicle  of  the  campaign  from  that  timfe  forward 
will  exhibit  its  method  and  success. 

1.  April  22,  1907,  the  Executive  Board  of  the  Conference 
for  Education  in  Texas  issued  an  address  to  the  friends  of  edu- 
cation in  the  State,  soliciting  assistance  in  the  accomplishment 
of  two  reforms,  county  supervision  and  local  taxation.     In  an 
organized   capacity  the   Executive  Board   gave  substantial   as- 
sistance in  securing  the  passage  of  a  law  creating  the  office  of 
County  Superintendent  in  more  than  fifty  counties.     The  law 
made  possible  professional  supervision  of  the  schools  of  these 
counties  and  was  a  great  victory  for  the  cause  of  education  in 
Texas. 

2.  Ten  thousand  copies  of  Bulletin  No.  1  were  distributed. 
This  bulletin  in  a  brief  way  showed   the  absolute   necessity  of 
local  taxation  for  the  support  of  schools  and  corrected  the  false 


MR.  OUSLEY.  103 

impression  prevailing  in  the  State  that  Texas  had  a  sufficient 
school  fund. 

3.  Ten  thousand  copies  of  Bulletin  Xo.  2  were  mailed  to 
the  teachers  of  Texas.     This  was  done  to  arouse  their  interest 
and  secure  their  active  support  and  hearty  cooperation  for  the 
local  tax  amendment  to  the  Constitution. 

4.  Twenty  thousand  copies  of  Bulletin  Xo.  3  were  printed 
for  general  distribution  among  the  voters  of  Texas.     The  pur- 
pose of  this  bulletin  was  to  explain  the  amendment  by  giving 
the  existing  constitutional  provision  and  the  proposed  change 
of  it.  and,  at  the  same  time,  to  present  a  few  cogent   reasons 
why  the  amendment  should  be  adopted. 

.">.  Fifty  thousand  copies  of  Bulletin  Xo.  4  were  printed. 
In  the  preparation  of  this  bulletin  the  general  agent  had  in 
mind  the  publication  of  all  the  essential  facts  relative  to  the 
comparative  educational  standing  of  Texas  and  her  actual  edu- 
cational conditions.  From  this  bulletin  teachers,  educators,  lay- 
men, politicians,  editors  of  newspapers  and  all  others  who  de- 
sired to  make  speeches  or  write  articles  in  favor  of  these  pro- 
posed constitutional  amendments  could  obtain  the  necessary  in- 
formation. It  was  probably  the  best  bulletin  ever  issued  on 
educational  conditions  in  Texas. 

6.  The  general  agent  of  the  Conference  for  Education  in 
Texas  addressed  the  State  Board  of  Medical  Examiners  in  fa- 
vor of  the  proposed  constitutional  amendment  and  secured  the 
adoption  of  a   resolution   endorsing  it.     This  endorsement   was 
mailed  to  j^l  physicians  in  Texas.     It  is  believed  that  its  dis- 
tribution made  many  thousand  voters  for  the  amendment. 

7.  The   Texas   Farmers'    Congress    at    College    Station    de- 
clared for   the   adoption   of  the   amendment    and   urged   every 
patriotic  citizen  to  give  it  his  active  support.     Fifteen  thousand 
copies  of  the  platform  of  the  Farmers'  Congress  containing  this 
endorsement  were  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  prominent  farm- 
ers of  Texas.     Xo  one  doubts  that  this  endorsement  secured  the 
active  support  of  thousands  of  farmers. 

8.  Through    the    efforts    of    the    general    agent    and    other 
friends  of  education  the  State  Democratic  Convention  at   San 


104  CONFERENCE  FOR   EDUC-ATIOX. 

Antonio,  August  14,  incorporated  a  plank  in  its  platform  en- 
dorsing the  constitutional  amendment  relating  to  free  schools 
and  commending  its  support  to  the  people  of  Texas.  This  en- 
abled the  friends  of  educational  progress  to  enlist  the  efforts 
of  many  politicians  and  many  voters  in  Texas. 

9.  Under  the  direction  of  the  general  agent  the  presidents 
of  the  leading  denominational  colleges  prepared  an  address  to 
the  people  of  the  State,  urging  the  adoption  of  the  constitu- 
tional amendment,  and  the  Conference  distributed  5,000  copies 
of  this  address. 

10.  Three  thousand  letters  were  written  to  the  ministers 
of  Texas  soliciting  their  cooperation  in  the  work  of  the  Con- 
ference and  making  a  special  request  of  them  to  preach  an  ed- 
ucational sermon  explaining  the  amendment  before  the  Novem- 
ber election.     Letters  on  file  of  the  office  of  the  general  agent 
indicate  that  the  request  was  complied  with  in  many  cases. 

11.  The  general  agent  addressed  the  Texas  Federation  of 
Woman's  Clubs  in  behalf  of  the  amendment  and  secured  their 
endorsement.     The  club  women  of  Texas  immediately  became 
active  workers  for  the  adoption  of  the  amendment  and  too  much 
credit  cannot  be  given  them  for  their  patriotic  efforts. 

12.  Fifteen   thousand    copies    of    endorsements    given   the 
amendment  by  the  civic  and  political  organizations  of  the  State 
were  printed  and  distributed.     It  is  hardly  necessary  to  add 
that  the  endorsements  from  so  many  influential  organizations 
carried  great  weight  with  the  thoughtful  voters  of  Texas. 

13.  The  newspapers  of  the  State  were  requested  to  publish 
articles  favorable  to  the  amendment.    By  special  request  promi- 
nent ministers  and  laymen  prepared  strong  articles  urging  the 
readers  of  the  religious  papers  to  give  active  support  to  the 
amendment. 

14.  One  hundred  thousand  cards,  postal  size,  were  printed 
for  workers  on  election  day. 

15.  Fifteen  thousand  placards  were  posted  in  public  places, 
such  as  depots,  hotels,  barber  shops,  postoffices,  etc. 

16.  The  evening  before  election  trlegrjuns  were  sent  to  more 


MR.  OUSLEY.  105 

than  fifty  county  superintendents,  requesting  them  to  have 
workers  for  the  amendment  at  all  the  voting  boxes. 

17.  The  Executive  Board  sent  into  the  field  more  than  one 
hundred  speakers  to  advocate  educational  progress  in  general 
and  the  proposed  constitutional  amendment  in  particular,  and 
in  all  speeches  the  educational  rank  of  Texas  was  shown  and 
the  need  for  improvement  of  rural  schools  was  thoroughly  ex- 
plained. 

The  amendment  was  overwhelmingly  adopted  and  a  statute 
putting  it  into  effect  was  promptly  enacted  by  the  Legislature 
which  assembled  in  January.  Already  a  score  or  more  dis- 
tricts have  petitioned  their  commissioner's  courts  for  school  tax 
election  and  within  two  years  more  than  1,000  districts  will 
have  voted  taxes  for  better  schools  and  better  schoolhouses. 

The  Conference  has  not  been  idle  since  the  November  elec- 
tion. The  Executive  Board  has  continued  to  agitate  educa- 
tional reform  and  the  general  agent  has  maintained  an  active 
bureau  of  publicity  through  the  press  and  by  bulletins  advocat- 
ing local  taxes  for  longer  terms,  modern  school  buildings  and 
country  high  schools. 

As  a  consequence  of  this  educational  awakening  the  Thirty- 
first  Legislature  in  its  regular  session  this  year  established  an- 
other normal  school,  making  the  fourth  in  Texas,  and  made  do- 
nations to  high  schools  teaching  agriculture  and  domestic 
science.  A  bill  requiring  compulsory  attendance  b'O  days  in  the 
country  and  120  days  in  the  cities  passed  the  lower  house  and 
had  a  fair  prospect  of  passing  the  Senate,  but  early  adjourn- 
ment intervened.  With  a  longer  session  a  bill  for  county  boards 
of  education  undoubtedly  would  have  been  enacted.  Indeed,  the 
legislative  disposition  was  so  generous  towards  educational  re- 
form there  was  real  danger  that  educational  zeal  would  enact 
measures  for  which  the  State  is  not  prepared. 

These  facts  and  conditions  emboldened  the  Conference,  in 
its  third  annual  session  a  few  days  ago.  to  undertake  no  less 
a  reform  than  the  complete  revision  of  all  educational  laws 
and  a  thorough  reconstruction  of  the  entire  public  educational 
system  from  the  primary  to  the  university.  The  main  prob- 


106  CONFERENCE  FOR  EDUCATION. 

lems  in  contemplation  are  the  establishment  of  county  boards 
of  education;  for  the  unification,  classification  and  grading  of 
rural  schools;  the  creation  of  a  State  Board  of  Education,  with 
large  powers  and  with  the  utmost  possible  freedom  from  po- 
litical influences;  the  correlation  of  the  institutions  of  higher 
learning,  and  provision  for  their  generous  maintenance  without 
resort  to  biennial  legislative  appropriation.  To  these  ends  a 
commission  of  experienced  and  constructive  men  and  women 
will  engage  in  study  for  one  year,  and  will  report  early  in  1910 
to  the  Conference  a  comprehensive  system  which  as  amended 
or  approved  will  be  submitted  to  the  people  for  their  considera- 
tion as  a  popular  demand  for  legislation  in  1911. 

The  work  of  the  last  two  years  has  given  to  the  teachers 
and  friends  of  education  in  Texas  the  militant  faith  that  moves 
mountains.  It  has  converted  education  from  the  pitiable  make- 
shift of  poverty-stricken  spinsters  and  effeminate  men  into  a 
problem  of  real  constructive  and  progressive  statesmanship. 

Most  important  of  all  it  has  demonstrated  again  the  wis- 
dom and  the  generosity  of  the  people  in  all  matters  of  public 
concern  when  they  are  properly  informed.  They  will  always 
do  right  when  the  right  is  intelligently  presented  for  their  con- 
sideration. Many  a  worthy  cause  languishes  or  fails  because 
it  is  inadequately  presented  to  the  public  mind,  but  no  worthy 
and  practicable  cause  will  fail  in  any  American  commonwealth 
when  the  people  fully  comprehend  it.  That  is  the  strength  and 
the  virtue  of  popular  government  and  in  it  lies  the  hope  of  the 
perpetuity  of  the  republic. 

Recounting  and  forecasting  the  work  of  the  Conference  for 
Education  in  Texas  sounds  easier  than  it  was.  I  would  not 
have  you  understand  that  the  cause  had  no  serious  opposition. 
It  is  always  the  case  that  inertia  must  be  overcome,  for  the 
"sleeping  sickness"  is  a  disease  of  the  public  as  well  as  the  in- 
dividual; that  the  stingy  taxpayer  must  be  overridden,  and 
that  the  reactionary  and  narrow-minded  citizen  must  be  out- 
voted. We  had  our  full  share  of  these  obstructions,  but  we 
found  the  courage  and  patience  and  the  intelligence  to  over- 
come them. 


MR.  OUSLEY.  107 

In  any  Southern  community  the  cause  of  public  education 
is  certain  to  encounter  more  or  less  opposition  on  account  of 
the  mistaken  notion  that  the  negro"  should  not  be  educated  or 
should  not  be  too  much  educated.  I  yield  to  none  in  pride  of 
race  and  insistence  upon  the  inexorable  standard  of  white  su- 
premacy, but  it  is  a  groundless  fear  that  the  education  of  the 
negro  will  imperil  white  supremacy.  The  white  man  starts  a 
million  years  ahead  of  the  negro,  and  even  if  the  two  make 
educational  progress  at  the  same  pace  there  Avill  always  remain 
between  them  the  same  immeasurable  distance  of  intelligence, 
faculty  and  achievement.  And  it  is  a  false  doctrine  that  edu- 
cation spoils  the  negro.  He  should  be  educated  according  to 
his  nature,  his  needs  and  his  destiny,  which  differ  from  the 
nature,  needs  and  the  destiny  of  the  white  man  as  widely  as 
black  differs  from  white,  but  that  he  should  be  educated  and 
that  proper  education  will  help  him  is  as  true  as  that  proper 
education  helps  any  human  being.  Whatever  might  have  been 
or  should  have  been  the  political  status  of  the  negro,  the  un- 
changeable fact  is  that  he  is  a  part  of  the  civic  and  sociological 
structure  and  his  uplift  is  the  unquestionable  duty  of  the  State. 
I  dare  not  prophesy  the  future  of  the  race;  I  perfectly  under- 
stand its  weaknesses,  vices  and  shortcomings,  but  I  rejoice  in 
the  knowledge  that  it  has  made  and  is  making  progress  in  so- 
briety, thrift  and  culture.  Booker  T.  Washington  some  time 
ago,  in  answering  an  inquiry,  traced  the  conduct  and  location 
of  more  than  a  hundred  of  his  Tuskegee  students  from  one 
county  in  Alabama,  and  of  the  total  number  all  but  a  bare 
half  dozen  have  proved  to  be  sober,  industrious,  successful  and 
law-abiding  farmers,  mechanics  and  teachers.' 

D.  AY.  Woodward,  of  the  Tuskegee  Institute,  has  published 
an  illuminating  report  upon  the  condition  of  negroes  in  Jack- 
son, Miss.,  where  they  outnumber  the  whites,  and  in  a  total 
negro  population  of  8,000  more  than  500  are  taxpayers  and 
own  more  than  a  half  million  of  assessed  property.  More  than 
half  the  negro  families  own  their  own  homes  and  negroes  own 
and  successfully  operate  two  banks.  These  brief  data  suffi- 
ciently indicate  that  the  negro  is  not  unworthy  of  freedom  and 
is  not  unfit  for  education. 


108  CONFERENCE  FOR  EDUCATION. 

Philosophy  and  results  aside,  as  a  Southern  man  I  cannot 
forget  the  fact  that  I  am  the  heir  of  negro  toil.  The  ancestors 
of  the  negroes  of  today  were  in  bondage  to  my  ancestors. 
Whether  the  institution  of  slavery  was  good  or  bad  for  the 
master  or  for  the  slave,  the  master  reckoned  it  to  be  for  his 
benefit,  and  he  and  his  children  owe  to  the  race  the  obligation 
of  generous  and  helpful  treatment  now  and  hereafter  in  good 
faith  and  earnest  purpose. 

The  man  who  advocates  or  contemplates  social  equality  is 
a  dangerous  zealot  or  a  more  dangerous  demagogue;  the  man 
who  advocates  or  contemplates  the  political  supremacy  of  an 
inferior  race  is  unlearned  in  history  or  unthinking  in  the  phil- 
osophy of  human  kind,  but  the  man  who  disputes  the  beneficent 
effect  of  education  upon  any  human  creature  denies  the  whole 
doctrine  of  education,  and  the  man  who  would  deny  education 
to  the  negro  race  is  unmindful  of  the  first  principles  of  civili- 
zation and  justice. 

To  strengthen  the  weak,  to  encourage  the  downcast  and  to 
lift  up  the  lowly— these  are  the  first  concerns  of  organized  so- 
cial effort  and  as  far  as  they  may  fall  within  constitutional 
limitations  they  are  the  solemn  duties  of  government.  It  is 
not  given  to  us  to  equalize  talents  among  the  children  of  men, 
but  it  is  required  of  us  to  equalize  opportunities  as  nearly  as  we 
may  and  to  train  men  and  women  in  the  best  way  we  can  for 
the  relentless  struggle  of  the  survival  of  the  fittest. 

Finally,  my  brethren  and  countrymen  of  the  South,  I  beg 
your  indulgence  for  a  word  of  admonition  and  hope. 

By  patience,  endurance,  industry,  resolution,  the  virtues  of 
our  fathers  and  the  strength  that  was  bred  in  the  bone  we  have 
escaped  the  bondage  of  the  poverty  and  desolation  that  have 
beset  us  for  nearly  a  half  century.  Wise  and  economical  State 
governments  insure  life,  liberty,  property  and  the  pursuit  of 
happiness.  The  portent  of  black  riot  and  loot  no  longer  alarms 
us.  A  wiser  and  a  greater  President  than  any  his  party  has 
produced  since  Abraham  Lincoln  fell  announces  the  policy  that 
local  sentiment  and  not  race  pretense  shall  govern  political  ap- 
pointments in  the  South.  The  common  sense  of  America  at 


MR.  OUSLEY.  109 

last  comprehends  and  accepts  the  Southern  doctrine  of  the 
logic  and  the  imperious  necessity  of  the  reign  of  intelligence 
always  and  everywhere.  We  have  nothing  more  to  fear  from 
those  beneath  us  in  faculty  or  those  above  us  in  power.  It  has 
been  a  long  and  weary  march  through  the  wilderness,  but  we 
stand  again  strong  and  unmolested  in  the  land  of  promise.  The 
"big  house"  of  the  old  days  has  multiplied  into  many  modest 
homes;  the  soil  is  refertilized  and  the  harvests  are  abundant; 
the  gray  moss  adorns  the  living  tree,  and  Rachel  is  comforted 
in  the  laughter  of  her  grandchildren. 

We  boast  less  wealth  than  some  of  our  neighbors,  but  we 
are  not  embarrassed  when  we  are  asked  how  we  got  it.  We 
have  not  caught  the  frenzy  of  finance  nor  fallen  into  the  idol- 
atry of  dollars.  We  have  preserved  something  of  the  most 
gracious  civilization  the  world  ever  knew  and  we  have  main- 
tained the  sovereignty  of  the  commonwealth  over  all  its  nat- 
ural and  artificial  creatures.  If  there  is  any  decay  in  the  prim- 
itive character  of  the  republic  it  is  not  here.  This  is  the  ancient 
and  still  virile  stock  of  a  steadfast  and  saving  democracy. 

Diversified  interests  and  industries  contribute  to  the  pros- 
perity of  any  people,  and  I  do  not  mean  to  discourage  the  as- 
pirations of  the  South  for  manufacturing  development,  but  it 
is  a  matter  for  congratulation  that  if  we  have  missed  the  greater 
wealth  we  have  missed  also  the  greater  vices  of  great  manu- 
facturing centers.  I  have  not  the  time  nor  is  this  the  occasion 
to  argue  the  wisdom  and  the  blessings  of  evenly  distributed 
wealth,  but  it  is  pertinent  to  remind  ourselves  that  the  greater 
strength  of  a  nation  or  a  State  lies  in  a  prosperous,  cultured 
and  contented  yeomanry.  Not  by  way  of  disparagement  of 
other  States,  but  by  way  of  encouragement  of  Southern  States, 
I  cite  the  comparative  urban  and  rural  wealth  of  the  typical 
manufacturing  State  of  Massachusetts  and  the  typical  agri- 
cultural State  of  Texas.  The  figures  on  population  are  those 
of  1900:  the  figures  on  taxable  values  are  those  of  1901': 


110  CONFERENCE  FOR  EDUCATION. 

TEXAS. 

Total  assessed   valuation  outside  of  cities $    782,651,661 

Total   assessed   valuation  of  cities   having  a   population  of 

over    4,000    234,920,071 


Total    for    State $1,017,571,732 


MASSACHUSETTS. 

Total  assessed  valuation  outside  of  cities $    277,428,002 

Total  assessed  valuation  of  cities  having  a  population  of 

over    4,000    .  .   2,837,998,283 


Total    for    State $3,115,426,385 


It  hardly  need  be  recited  that  in  cities  wealth  is  more  un- 
evenly distributed  than  in  the  country;  that  urban  wealth  runs 
to  the  extremes  of  great  fortunes  in  the  hands  of  a  few,  with  the 
many  barely  existing  or  actually  suffering. 

If  any  peril  threatens  the  republic  it  lies  not  among  the 
comfortable  farmers  of  our  agricultural  States,  but  among  the 
disheartened  toilers  of  the  manufacturing  centers.  Why,  up 
yonder  where  they  grow  so  rich  it  takes  a  million  toilers  to 
make  one  multimillionaire,  and  a  thousand  millionaires  to  make 
one  philanthropist.  Thank  God  for  the  one  philanthropist,  but 
God  save  us  from  the  other  999  and  give  us  a  system  of  govern- 
ment and  sociology  that  will  produce  more  philanthropists  or 
fewer  millionaires.  Therefore  I  plead  for  a  public  policy  that 
will  promote  the  prosperity,  the  culture  and  the  contentment 
of  rural  life,  and  I  sound  the  warning  that  therein  lias  the 
hope  of  a  virtuous  and  self-governing  people. 

Life  and  strength  and  beauty  come  from  mother  earth  alone; 
there  is  sweetness  and  the  sense  of  virtue  in  the  very  smell  of 
the  upturned  soil.  Since  Cincinnatus  left  his  plow  to  save  his 
country  patriotism  has  grown  with  the  seed  in  the1  furrow; 
since  the  Druids  worshiped  in  the  proves  (i<»<l  has  whispered 
in  the  trees  and  smiled  in  the  untarnished  sky.  .James  Lane 
Allen  in  "The  Mettle  of  the  Pasture"  recites  the  process  of  the 
only  rejuvenation  of  any  stifling  civilization: 


MR.  OUSLEY.  Ill 

This  was  Pansy,  child  of  plain,  poor  farmer  folk,  immemorially 
dwelling  close  to  the  soil;  unlettered,  unambitious,  long-lived,  abound- 
ing in  children,  without  physical  beauty,  but  marking  the  track  of  their 
generations  by  a  path  lustrous  with  right  doing.  For  more  than  a 
hundred  years  on  this  spot  the  land  had  lessened  around  them;  but 
the  soil  had  worked  upward  into  their  veins  as  into  them  stalks  of 
plants,  the  trunks  of  trees;  and  the  clean,  thrilling  sap  of  the  earth, 
that  vitality  of  the  exhaustless  mother  which  never  goes  for  nothing, 
had  produced  at  least  one  heavenly  flower  shooting  forth  with  the 
irrepressible  energy  a  soul  unspotted  and  sublime.  When  the  top 
decays,  as  it  always  does  in  the  lapse  of  time,  whence  shall  come  the 
regeneration,  if  not  from  below?  It  is  the  plain  people  who  are  the 
eternal  breeding  ground  of  higher  destinies. 

It  is  this  plain  people  for  whose  preservation  and  uplift  I 
plead.  It  is  this  plain  people  who  are  the  bulwark  of  the  na- 
tion's defense  and  the  reservoir  of  the  nation's  virtues.  And 
this  is  the  people  among  whom  we  abide. 

In  the  old  days  we  had  here  an  aristocracy  of  wealth  arid 
culture  whose  beauties  and  delights  the  history  of  all  the  world 
had  not  matched.  But  it  was  doomed  to  fall  because  it  rested 
upon  the  shoulders  of  human  bondsmen.  Let  us  rear  in  its 
stead  another  Southern  aristocracy  consisting  of  the  uniform 
prosperity,  enlightenment,  contentment  and  sovereignty  of  the 
plain  people  to  whose  educated  intelligence  is  committed  the 
custody  of  the  ark  of  the  covenant  of  an  everlasting  democracy. 
Thus  may  we  hope  to  justify  that  Southern  citizenship  which 
in  the  early  days  was  a  type  of  the  best  Americanism  and  make 
it  again  the  hope  as  in  the  beginning  it  was  the  strength  of  the 
republic  of  our  fatheis. 

MR.  OGDEN  —  I  beg  that  the  audience  will  not  draw  any  un- 
favorable inferences  from  the  kindly  allusions  from  the  speaker 
who  has  just  sat  down.  I  say  this  for  my  own  protection;  par- 
ticulars on  request. 

Our  next  speaker.  Mr.  C.  S.  Barrett,  President  of  the  Farm- 
ers' Union,  is  absent  this  evening,  as  I  understand,  by  com- 
mand of  the  President  of  the  United  States,  having  been  sum- 
moned to  Washington  for  counsel  with  the  President.  I  have- 
taken  the  liberty  of  making  a  change  in  the  program  and  hav^ 


112  CONFERENCE  FOR   EDUCATION. 

invited  a  lady,  who  is  here  as  a  delegate  to  this  Conference.  t<> 
occupy  a  part  of  the  time  assigned  to  Mr.  Barrett  by  singing 
some  familiar  songs.  Miss  Lelia  Morse  will  entertain  us  for  a 
little  while  with  some  art  that  illustrates  industrial  education. 
Miss  Morse  sang.  "Since  We  Parted,"  "No  Spring  but 
You,"  "Summer  and  Winter,"  a  (Jerman  sonir.  and  "Dixie." 

MR.  OGDEN  —  We  shall  now  have  the  pleasure  of  hearing 
from  Dr.  John  Lee  Coulter,  of  the  University  of  Minnesota,  upon 
the  "Economic  Organization  of  Rural  Life."  As  you  have  al- 
ready been  informed,  Dr.  Coulter  is  a  past  master  in  and  the 
practical  illustration  of  the  subject  which  he  will  theoretically 
present : 

MR.  COULTER. 

ECONOMIC  ORGANIZATION-  OF  Hi  HAL  LIFE. 
Ladies  and  Gentl<  >n<  n : 

The  American  frontier  is  a  thing  of  the  past:  with  its  dis- 
appearance the  extraordinary  movement  of  masses  of  people 
into  the  agricultural  industry  from  all  other  walks  of  life  came 
to  an  end.  We  do  not  have  to  look  far  into  the  past  to  see 
streams  of  people  rushing  toward  the  then  existing  frontier. 
They  came  from  a  thousand  sources  and  as  the  many  drops  of 
water  on  a  mountain  slope  become  a  torrent,  so  these  settlers 
formed  a  great  army  determined  to  subdue  and  appropriate 
wild  nature  to  their  use.  Many  came  from  cities,  at  home  and 
abroad,  passed  other  towns  and  cities  and  settled  in  the  open 
country. 

When  we  consider  the  movement  of  the  last  century  we  are 
compelled  to  wonder  what  forces  caused  it.  Was  it  some  enemy 
in  the  rear  driving  these  settlers  on,  which  gave  them  courage 
to  meet  in  open  battle  and  in  ambush  the  Indians  and  animals 
of  timber-land  and  prairies,  which  forced  them  to  destroy  great 
forests  and  appropriate  a  continent?  Or,  again,  was  it  a  great 
religious  persecution,  or  a  crusade?  Or,  still  again,  was  it  lack 
of  political  freedom  where  they  lived?  If  any  or  all  of  these 
forces  were  present  did  they  equal  the  demand  for  food,  cloth- 


MR.  COULTER.  113 

ing  and  other  thing's  which  go  to  make  a  living  ?  Or  if  there 
was  no  great  force  driving  them  on.  was  there  some  powerful 
attraction  drawing  them  ?  AYas  it  the  beauty  of  nature  or  com- 
forts, or  change  for  leisure  or  desire  to  escape  city  convention- 
alities? Or  was  it  a  movement  of  the  city  wealthies  looking  for 
suburban  homes  and  country  estates  .' 

I  think  that  we  must  all  finally  admit  that  the  large  central 
force  which  caused  the  bulk  of  the  movement  was  a  belief  that 
agriculture  would  be  the  mrst  profitable  industry.  Many  of 
the  people  left  home  because  of  lack  of  political  or  religious 
freedom.  But  coming  to  this  country  they  went  to  agriculture 
because  it  promised  to  be  profitable.  It  held  a  foremost  place 
for  two  chief  reasons:  first,  because  ownership  of  land  gave  the 
basis  for  increased  wealth  with  increase  of  values,  and  second, 
because  farming  was  as  profitable  a  business  as  any  other  open 
to  the  newcomers. 

This  great  economic  crusade — this  appropriation  of  the  open 
country — developed  a  ruggedness  and  a  power  to  cope  with  wild 
nature,  as  well  as  a  spirit  of  independence  and  a  feeling  of  in- 
dividualism. This  same  movement  brought  with  it  a  careless- 
ness—often a  neglect  of  detail— and  generally  a  haphazard. or 
slipshod  method  of  work  and  of  business.  Indeed  the  demand 
was  to  solve  big  problems:  success  was  attained  by  leaving 
petty  details  and  waste  materials.  Economic  division  of  labor, 
careful  utilization  of  by-products  and  conservation  of  resources 
were  unthought  of  in  the  rush.  The  evil  results  we  know  only 
too  well.  Condemnation  is  folly:  constructive  policy  is  now 
demanded.  « 

MAX  AND  XATTRE. 

For  long  periods  farmers  had  to  deal  largely  with  nature. 
They  associated  largely  with  one  another  or  petty  merchants. 
They  did  not  have  the  great  textile  and  boot  and  shoe  manu- 
facturers, nor  the  tobacco  and  sugar  corporations,  nor  millers 
and  packers,  as  partners.  Agriculture  was  largely  self-suffic- 
ing: such  surplus  as  there  was  went  in  small  lots  in  exchange 
for  the  articles  not  produced  at  home. 


114  CONFERENCE  FOR  EDUCATION. 

tween  the  farmers  and  nature — man  to  understand  nature  and 
nature  to  furnish  the  supplies  demanded. 

It  was  this  struggle  with  nature,  the  desire— yes,  the  determ- 
ination — to  understand  her  la\vs  which  led  to  the  growth  of 
the  sciences  upon  which  our  agricultural  industry  is  being 
built.  It  wras  indeed  fitting  that  nature's  laws  should  be  studied 
first.  There  was  no  contest  on,  when  that  movement  began, 
with  other  classes  of  society — with  the  manufacturing  or  dis- 
tributing corporations.  The  result  of  the  half  century  of  scien- 
tific research  has  been  something  wonderful.  I  need  scarcely 
refer  to  the  development  of  soil  physics  and  chemistry,  breed- 
ing, animal  nutrition  and  other  subjects  now  extensively  studied. 

REVERSE  MOVEMENT  TO  CITIES  AND  NEW  PROBLEMS. 

But  even  before  the  invasion  of  this  great  class  had  been 
completed— before  all  of  the  desirable  or  available  lands  had 
been  appropriated  by  the  invaders— a  new  movement  had  taken 
on  very  definite  form.  It  was  toward  the  villages  and  towns. 
It  meant  the  growth  of  cities  and  the  establishment  of  a  factory 
system.  Two  characteristics  of  the  new  movement  should  be 
noted  because  two  very  different  classes  were  attracted  from 
the  country.  First,  many  farmers  had  become  immensely 
wealthy,  and  still  more  had  gained  a  comfortable  competence, 
and  now  moved  to  the  city  to  take  advantage  of  the  social  and 
intellectual  environment.  They  knew  of  the  comforts  available 
there — the  mail,  telegraph  and  telephone;  the  libraries,  news- 
papers and  magazines;  the  paved  streets,  lighting  and  heating 
facilities,  and  the  water  and  sewage  systems.  They  wished  to 
take  advantage  of  these. 

But  this  class,  although  named  first,  was  second  in  number. 
I  named  it  first  because  it  set  the  pace.  The  second  and  much 
larger  stream  was  set  in  motion  because  of  a  rapid  change  which 
was  being  made  in  the  industries  of  the  country.  The  most 
important  fact  concerning  this  change  is  that  the  modern  fac- 
tory system  has  taken  from  the  farmers  nearly,  if  not  quite, 
half  of  their  earlier  functions.  The  old  self-sufficing  agricul- 
ture is  a  thing  of  the  past.  It  was  uneconomic.  Division  of  labor 


MR.  COULTER.  115 

and  utilization  of  wastes,  which  are  now  often  converted  into 
by-products  more  valuable  than  the  principle  article  made,  has 
largely  brought  about  the  modern  commercial  system. 

This  readjustment,  which  took  half  of  the  farmers'  former 
business,  large  numbers  of  farmers'  children  and  many  parents 
to  the  cities,  has  proved  to  be  an  economic  movement  not  to  be 
condemned.  But  it  has  come  upon  us  so  rapidly  and  in  so 
many  different  forms  that  we  have  not  been  able  to  keep  pace. 
The  fact  that  half  of  the  farmers'  business  moved  away  and 
took  with  it  many  people  has  not  lightened  the  problems  of 
the  farmer.  All  of  his  old  struggle  with  nature  remains:  scien- 
tific problems  are  even  more  important  than  before.  And  in 
addition  to  all  of  this  a  new  problem  has  been  growing'  and 
calling  constantly  for  more  and  more  attention.  The  farmers 
must  now  study  and  deal  with  this  new.  complex  business  or- 
ganization concentrated  in  cities.  They  must  now  give  as  much 
attention  to  their  social  environment  as  to  the  physical  sciences. 

NATIONAL  IDEAL  APPLIED  TO  AGRICULTURE. 

It  is  of  first  importance  if  we  are  going  to  give  any  special 
attention  to  agriculture  in  the  future  educational  systems  that 
we  understand  not  only  its  present  status,  but  what  must  be 
held  out  as  the  national  ideal  toward  which  to  work.  It  is  well 
to  note  that  there  are  several  view  points  which  may  be  taken, 
and  until  we  see  the  more  important  ones  we  cannot  decide 
what  \ve  shall  \vork  toward,  and  how  to  avoid  disastrous  re- 
sults in  the  future. 

The  selfish  ideal  of  any  individual  in  the  modern  material 
struggle  for  existence  and  supremacy  is  to  get  the  greatest  pos- 
sible surplus.  In  agriculture  as  in  any  other  walk  of  life,  if 
the  individual  farmer  acts  from  purely  selfish  motives  and  is 
producing  for  the  market,  he  will  try  to  raise  the  largest  pos- 
sible crops  and  get  the  highest  possible  price — therefore  obtain- 
ing the  greatest  surplus— commonly  called  profit.  But  if  all  of 
the  farmers  raising  a  particular  class  of  goods — or  series  of 
classes  which  can  be  used  alternatingly  by  consumers — try  to 
get  the  largest  possible  crops,  they  know  that  the  price  is  sure 


116  CONFERENCE  FOR   EDUCATION. 

to  fall  and  therefore  the  profit  to  disappear.  If,  therefore,  all 
in  a  branch  industry  work  together  they  will  work  for  that 
combination  of  quantity  and  price  which  will  bring  the  greatest 
surplus  of  division.  If  the  quantity  threatens  to  be  too  large 
one  of  three  things  must  be  decided  upon.  All  goods  may  be 
sold  to  the  best  advantage  at  market  rates.  This  is  the  system 
of  the  past  and  even  present  time.  It  is  ruinous  and  must  be 
discarded.  It  results  in  extravagant  use  and  waste  at  one  time 
by  consumers,  while  producers  do  not  get  fair  rates;  and  then 
in  another  season  the  consumers  suffer  for  lack  and  the  pro- 
ducers have  nothing  to  deliver.  The  second  choice  is  limitation 
of  output.  This  is  little  better  than  the  first,  probably  worse. 
It  may  prevent  the  low  price  and  waste  at  one  season,  but  does 
not  make  any  supply  available  in  bad  seasons— does  not  relieve 
want,  and  in  the  long  run  helps  the  farmers  but  little,  if  any, 
and  stirs  up  petty  warfare. 

The  third  choice  is  to  look  upon  the  product  of  a  year's 
labor  as  a  stock  of  goods  which  can  be  converted  into  a  visible 
supply  at  will.  It  is  as  essential  that  there  be  a  stock  of  goods 
which  can  be  converted  into  a  visible  supply  when  consumers 
are  willing  to  pay  the  cost  of  producing  the  goods  and  a  fair 
profit,  as  it  is  that  there  should  be  a  desire  to  be  converted  into 
an  effectual  demand  as  the  price  of  goods  falls  from  cheapened 
cost  of  production  or  otherwise.  In  order  that  this  third  altern- 
ative may  be  carried  out  intelligent  sorting,  grading,  packing 
and  storing  are  essential.  This  demands  warehouses,  elevators 
and  cold  storage.  In  biblical  times  Joseph,  who  had  extraor- 
dinary foresight,  accomplished  more  than  those  who  are  in 
charge  of  our  present  marketing  system  have  even  attempted. 
He  stored  the  surplus  corn  for  seven  years  before  there  was 
any  demand  for  his  savings.  But  his  surplus  satisfied  the  needs 
of  the  people  for  many  years  of  crop  failure  which  followed. 

Now,  if  we  left  all  those  in  any  branch  industry  to  deter- 
mine their  own  policy,  and  they  did  so  both  selfishly  and  wisely, 
they  would  accept  this  third  policy  outlined  above,  for  this 
would  bring  the  greatest  surplus  for  that  industry.  Each 
branch  of  agriculture  wrould  do  the  same  if  it  thought  only  of 


MR.  COULTER.  117 

its  own  self-interest.  If  any  branch  was  exceptionally  success- 
ful, on  account  of  demand  and  good  prices  secured,  or  on  ac- 
count of  exceptional  decrease  in  cost  of  producing  the  article, 
many  farmers  in  other  branches  would  gradually  change  to  the 
more  profitable.  All  agriculture,  as  a  great  collection  of  branch 
industries,  would  in  that  way  be  most  profitable.  This  is  in- 
deed a  selfish  ideal  for  it  tries  to  get  for  those  in  one  great  in- 
dustry the  largest  possible  surplus. 

But  the  same  system  could  be  converted  into  a  desire  to  be 
of  the  greatest  possible  service,  based  upon  equity,  or  a  fair  profit 
to  all.  Then  the  effort  would  still  be  to  save  all  surplus  crops, 
never  to  limit  output :  refuse  to  sell  for  less  than  cost  of  pro- 
duction plus  a  fair  profit,  but  never  to  hold  for  a  higher  profit 
just  because  the  power  was  present. 

All  of  this  is  from  the  viewpoint  of  the  f (inner.  Let  us 
now  look  from  the  consumer's  side.  Henry  Clews,  of  New  York, 
probably  puts  their  case  as  strongly  as  any  when  he  reports 
regularly  from  that  city  that  "one  of  the  country's  greatest 
needs  at  this  time  is  large  crops  and  much  depends  upon  the 
next  harvest."  He  laments  the  fact  that  prices  are  as  high  as 
they  are  and  notes  that:  "Just  now  the  farmers  are  thriving 
upon  the  necessities  of  a  helpless  public,  which  is  passing 
through  a  period  of  more  or  less  adversity  and  depression. 
Upon  the  poor  the  high  prices  of  food  products  today  are  an 
exceeding  hardship:  and  the  contrast  between  the  average  work- 
inn'  man  in  our  great  cities  and  the  average  condition  of  the 
name  class  in  agricultural  sections  is  very  striking,  showing  a 
difference  that  should  not  indefinitely  continue.  .  .  .  One 
of  the  first  necessities  of  the  day  is  big  crops.1'  He  constantly 
lays  emphasis  upon  large  crops  that  the  city  dwellers  may  not 
suffer. 

But,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  that  is  as  purely  selfish  as  any 
position  a  man  could  take.  It  is  clear  that  while  he  pretends 
to  speak  for  the  nation  he  speaks  for  the  people  not  directly 
engaged  in  agriculture.  He  urges  larger  crops  and  would  al- 
IOAV  these  to  be  dumped  as  they  were  produced,  thus  encourag- 
ing waste,  failing  to  prepare  for  the  poor  years  to  come-,  and 


118  CONFERENCE  FOR  EDUCATION. 

at  the  same  time  he  pictures  the  farmers  thriving  while  "the 
people"  are  suffering. 

It  is  needless  to  say  that  careful  observers  do  not  agree  with 
him.  The  Country  Life  Commission  reports  "  ...  that 
agriculture  is  not  commercially  as  profitable  as  it  is  entitled 
to  be  for  the  labor  and  energy  that  the  farmer  expends  and  the 
risks  that  he  assumes  .  .  .  ."  (page  14)  ;  and  the  Presi- 
dent 's  message  which  accompanied  the  report  agreed  that 
"  ...  farming  does  not  yield  either  the  profit  or  the  sat- 
isfaction that  it  ought  to  yield  and  that  it  may  be  made  to 
yield  ..."  (page  13). 

It  must  be  clear  from  the  above  that  the  ideal  of  the  indi- 
vidual farmer  cannot  be  accepted  by  all  if  he  works  along  sel- 
fishly for  the  greatest  net  profits,  nor  is  the  ideal  of  any  branch 
industry,  if  it  has  the  same  end  in  view,  satisfactory;  for  al- 
though all  in  that  branch  are  competing,  their  selfish  interest 
is  to  work  for  the  greatest  surplus  for  their  industry— careless 
of  the  interests  of  other  branches  of  agriculture  and  of  other 
industries.  Nor,  again,  can  we  accept  the  ideal  of  the  greatest 
gains  for  all  of  agriculture;  for  although  all  branches  of  ag- 
riculture are  potentially  competing,  a  highly  controlled  stock 
of  goods  or  of  raw  materials  highly  protected  would  cause  con- 
sumers and  other  industries  to  suffer  or  barely  subsist  with  no 
profit.  The  ideal  presented  by  Mr.  Clews  is  as  undesirable  and 
as  far  from  what  is  best  from  a  national  viewpoint  as  any  of 
the  others  presented.  It  is  selfish  and  favors  a  class. 

A  REASONABLE  PROFIT  NECESSARY. 

What  then  must  farmers  work  for,  having  the  best  interest 
of  the  nation  at  heart?  What  form  of  organization  should  be 
urged  for  the  farm?  How  may  the  present  agriculture  be 
raised  to  the  place  it  should  occupy  ?  Who  shall  do  it  ? 

It  should  be  understood  by  all  that  among  a  people,  espec- 
ially of  a  young  and  progressive  nation,  nature  helps  man  very 
largely  in  his  effort  to  produce  useful  things.  The  result  is 
that  the  amount  of  production  in  its  total  exceeds  the  human 
effort  and  sacrifice.  This  surplus,  due  to  the  bountifulness  of 


MR.  COULTER.  119 

nature,  is  what  makes  life  truly  worth  living.  In  order  to 
build  up  and  retain  a  high  civilization  this  surplus  must  be 
justly  distributed  among  the  people  of  the  Nation.  The  na- 
tional ideal,  then,  is  that  all  industry  should  yield  a  reasonable 
return  to  those  who  labor  intelligently.  And  the  Country  Life 
Commission  sounds  the  keynote  when  it  urges  that  farming  be 
carried  on  in  full  harmony  with  the  best  American  ideals,  and 
that  "first  of  all  agriculture  must  be  made  to  yield  a  reason- 
able return  to  those  who  follow7  it  intelligently."  (Page  17.) 
That  is  to  say,  farmers  must  secure  for  their  products  enough 
to  cover  the  cost  of  production  and  leave  a  reasonable  surplus 
if  agriculture  is  to  be  placed  on  as  sound  a  footing  as  other 
industries. 

THE  NECESSARY  CHANGES. 

Unbiased  judges  and  students  admit  that  "farming  does 
not  now  yield  either  the  profit  or  the  satisfaction  it  ought  to 
yield  and  may  be  made  to  yield. ' '  AYhat  must  be  done  in  order 
that  the  industry  may  be  brought  up  to  standard?  Two  ways 
are  suggested.  The  prices  may  be  raised  or  the  cost  of  produc- 
tion, including  manufacturing  and  distributing,  must  be  re- 
duced. After  a  careful  study  of  the  various  steps  in  the  pres- 
ent system  I  do  not  believe  that  consumers  need  be  called  upon 
to  pay  higher  prices  than  now.  except  in  a  few  cases  where 
prices  are  now  abnormally  low  or  where  the  consumer  wants 
a  higher  grade  of  goods.  Thus,  when  the  farmers  who  furnish 
milk  and  cream  to  Chicago  people  combined  a  few  months  ago 
it  was  to  raise  the  price  because  the  people  of  that  city,  by  law, 
demanded  an  expensive  system  of  inspection  in  order  to  im- 
prove the  quality  of  the  product  and  which  at  the  same  time 
raised  the  cost  of  production.  I  believe  that  present  prices 
may  even  be  lowered  in  many  instances  in  the  near  future. 

WASTE. 

But  if  the  profits  so  much  desired  are  to  be  obtained  without 
increase  of  cost  to  consumers  how  is  it  to  be  accomplished?  Let 
me  briefly  state  one  line  of  attack:  All  will  admit  that  there 
is  great  waste  in  many  places  in  modern  industry.  Some  one 


120  CONFERENCE  FOR  EDUCATION. 

has  said  that  wastefulness  is  ordinarily  a  habit,  but  that  with 
the  American  people  it  is  a  passion.  It  is  true  that  in  this  coun- 
try hundreds  of  millions  of  dollars  worth  of  crops  have  been 
lost  on  account  of  too  early  or  too  late  action  in  earing  for 
them,  which  in  turn  has  been  because  we  did  not  understand 
nature  and  her  laws.  Like  amounts  have  been  lost  on  account 
of  attacks  of  insects  wrhich  we  do  not  yet  know  how  to  combat. 
The  same  can  be  charged  to  ravages  of  disease  among  animals. 
We  can  charge  hundreds  of  millions  in  loss  of  soil  fertility  to 
the  fact  that  we  did  not  know  the  laws  of  nature.  But  for 
over  half  a  century  students  have  been  working  and  with  won- 
derful results.  The  climatologist,  the  entomologist,  soil  chem- 
ists and  physicists,  the  breeders,  feeders  and  all  the  others  have 
been  finding  out  how  to  act  so  as  to  prevent  these  losses.  It 
remains  now  for  these  students  to  go  on  with  even  more  de- 
termination than  in  the  past.  But  it  also  remains  for  others  to 
gee  that  the  losses  or  wastes  which  continue  to  be  so  prominent 
shall  be  stopped. 
-  Two  great  movements  are  therefore  necessary.  The  one  is 

• 

to  teach  the  principles  already  established  and  the  other  to 
discover  new  ones.  The  wrork  being  done  in  experiment  sta- 
tions and  in  agricultural  schools  and  colleges  must  be  kept  up 
and  must  be  much  more  rapidly  extended  than  in  the  past  to 
other  institutions  whether  they  be  consolidated  rural  schools. 
high  schools  or  special  industrial  schools  and  colleges.  The 
institute  work  must  be  developed  to  higher  perfection  than  it 
has  attained  even  in  Iowa,  Minnesota  and  other  Northern  States. 
In  these  ways  the  individual  farmers  will  be  able  not  only  to 
find  out  the  laws  of  nature,  which  they  must  obey,  but  will 
learn  how  to  practically  apply  them  in  their  farm  work. 

BUSINESS  BASIS  NECESSARY. 

But  there  is  another  kind  of  waste  which  is  equally  im- 
portant, but  which  has  received  little  attention  in  many  places 
and  all  too  little  in  any  place.  This  waste  results  from  failure 
to  see  how  to  organize  the  various  processes  or  steps  into  an 
economic  system.  When  Dean  Davenport  said.  "First  of  all, 


MR.  COULTER.  121 

agricultural  education  must  be  so  conducted  as  to.  make  the 
farmers  efficient  in  a  business  way"  page  19),  he  struck  the 
keynote.  In  a  recent  address  the  same  speaker  said:  "The 
first  step  in  the  development  of  any  business  is  to  make  it  pay. 
"Whatever  we  may  say  about  the  glories  of  country  life,  and  it 
is  much :  whatever  the  songs  we  sing  of  the  fresh  air,  the  twit- 
tering birds  and  the  blessed  sunshine,  and  they  are  many:  after 
all,  and  before  all.  farming  is  a  business  as  well  as  a  mode  of 
life  and  the  first  and  the  fundamental  step  in  its  development 
is  to  put  it  on  a  paying  basis." 

I  have  already  noted  that  the  organization  of  agriculture 
today  is  more  difficult  than  ever  before:  it  is  only  a  remnant 
of  farming  half  a  century  ago.  The  problem  today  is  two 
sided.  It  calls  for  a  successful  recorganization  of  each  farm 
unit  on  the  basis  <:f  what  is  left,  .and  it  calls  for  a  satisfactory 
relationship  of  the  farmer  to  his  new  commercial  environment 
—to  the  marketing,  transporting  and  manufacturing  systems. 
In  the  organization  of  individual  farm  units  it  is  essential  that 
careiui  accounts  he  kept  in  order  that  the  eest  of  production 
may  be  known.  This  is  fundamental  if  the  industry  is  to  be 
placed  on  a  business  basis.  The  best  organization  of  the  fac- 
tors, labor  and  equipment  with  nature,  can  then  be  worked  out. 
The  importance  of  agricultural  insurance  is  not  half  under- 
stood at  the  present  time,  and  what  is  known  is  comparatively 
little  used.  It  would  be  true  economy  to  prevent  many  wastes 
easily  picked  out  on  almost  any  farm  at  the  present  day.  The 
saving  of  waste  and  the  making  of  new  by-products  must  go 
on  as  rapidly  during  the  next  quarter  of  a  century  as  it  did 
during  the  last.  Let  us  compare  the  cornstalks  destroyed  to- 
day with  the  cottonseed  of  fifty  years  ago.  or  the  great  stacks 
of  straw  with  the  by-products  in  the  packing  industry. 

But  while  the  profits  to  be  made  from  establishing  agricul- 
ture on  an  economic  basis  are  great,  and  the  business  of  farm 
management  is  one  of  the  great  demands  of  the  time,  it  does 
not  stand  alone  when  considering  the  economic  side  of  the  ques- 
tion. Probably  the  one  characteristic  of  agriculture  which  dis- 
tinguishes it  best  from  all  other  industries  is  the  fact  that  it 


122  CONFERENCE  FOB  EDUCATION. 

is  so  diffused — scattered  over  so  large  an  area.  This  fact  is 
of  vital  importance  in  considering  its  economic  organization. 
While  carrying  on  the  first  steps  in  production  each  family, 
with  the  possible  assistance  of  a  few  extra  laborers,  can  pro- 
duce the  best  results,  but  when  it  comes,  to  getting  the  mass  of 
products  together  from  these  scattered  units  individuals  are 
handicapped.  Some  concerted  action  is  necessary  if  the  most 
economic  results  are  to  be  secured. 

Let  me  use  the  fruit  industry  as  an  illustration  of  the  losses 
which  result  from  not  working  together.  I  could  use  almost 
any  other  branch  industry  with  almost  as  good  effect.  I  am 
told  by  fruit  farmers,  fruit  handlers  and  fruit  consumers  that- 
First.  The  grading  and  packing  of  the  fruit  is  not  at  all  uniform 
or  satisfactory  in  quality.  As  a  rule,  fruit  is  poorly  packed  and  low 
in  grade.  It  is  ununiform  both  as  to  fruit  and  to  package. 

Second.  Transportation  of  fruit  and  its  disposal  in  market  is 
also  highly  unsatisfactory.  Most  fruit  is  moved  in  less  than  car  lots, 
which  makes  the  cost  high  and  the  service  poor. 

Third.  There  is  not  the  proper  relation  between  producer  and 
consumer,  between  supply  and  demand.  Too  much  of  our  fruit  is 
handled  on  consignment,  and  by  too  many  middlemen,  many  of  whom 
are  dishonest. 

Fourth.  The  individual  fruit  grower,  working  alone,  has  no 
power  to  remedy  this  state  of  affairs.  He  is  unable  to  trace  shortages- 
remedy  the  losses  in  transit,  or  influence  materially  better  service. 

COOPERATION. 

But  working  together  remedies  these  defects  and  prevents 
many  losses.  Mr.  Burritt,  of  New  York,  maintains  that  "co- 
operation aims  not  to  increase  the  selling  price  of  farm  prod- 
ucts, but  to  cheapen  the  cost  of  their  production  .  .  .  and 
secure  to  the  consumer  a  better  article. ' '  And  he  has  pointed  out 
the  following  results  in  fruit  farming: 

We  may  conclude  then  that  the  following  benefits  have  actually 
been  secured  by  cooperative  associations: 

1.  Cooperative  packing  has  produced  a  higher  class  of  fruit  in 
its  respective  grade  than  would  be  done  by  the  average  individual 
packing  his  own  fruit. 


MR.  COULTER.  123 

2.  The  style  and  uniformity  of  the  package  and  grade  has  been 
greatly    improved,    securing   the    confidence   of    the    buyer;    the    buyer 
may  also  secure  a  larger  quantity  of  a  uniform  brand. 

3.  Since  shipping  is  done  in  large  quantities,  at  least  in  car  lots, 
better   transportation   facilities  and    rates   are   obtained.     Associations 
of  growers  can  demand  a  fair  deal  from  the  railroads  where  individuals 
would  be  able  to  secure  nothing. 

4.  Cooperation   has   insured   a  better  system  of  marketing,   with 
a  much  more  complete  knowledge  of  markets,  has  done  this  marketing 
with  less  losses,  and  is  better  able  to  make  good  its  losses. 

5.  Cooperative    packing   and    marketing   enables    the   grower    not 
only  to  secure  better  prices  for  his  products,  but  to  produce  a  better 
product,   because   he   can   give   his   whole   attention   to   the   marketing 
of  the  fruit. 

6.  Cooperative  associations  are  able  to  secure  packages,  spraying 
material  and  other  supplies  in  large  lots  and  at  greatly  reduced  costs. 

Finally,  in  brief,  I  think  we  have  seen  that  cooperation  in  the 
marketing  of  fruit  secures  the  consumer  a  better  product  and  realizes 
the  grower  a  better  profit. 

How  TO  USE  THE  PROFITS. 

In  reviewing  the  changes  in  agriculture  during  the  last  cen- 
tury and  pointing  out  an  ideal  to  work  for  I  have  urged  a  sur- 
plus in  addition  to  cost  of  production.  But  it  is  not  the  profit 
as  such  that  I  wished  to  emphasize.  This  is  merely  a  means  to 
an  end.  Agriculture  does  not  hold  as  high  a  place  as  it  should. 
Farm  life  must  be  bettered.  Recently  one  of  our  foremost  citi- 
zens wrote:  "AVe  hope  ultimately  to  double  the  average  yield 
of  wheat  and  corn  per  acre:  it  will  be  a  great  achievement,  but 
it  is  even  more  important  to  double  the  desirability,  comfort 
and  standing  of  the  farmer's  life."  How  to  attain  this  last 
result  has  been  uppermost  in  my  mind  for  some  time,  and  I 
can  do  no  better  now  than  to  repeat  what  I  said  at  the  economic 
conference  in  New  Jersey  last  December : 

Some  of  the  steps  which  should  be  taken  and  which  would  assist 
in  the  uplift  of  agriculture  and  the  agricultural  class  are  better  edu- 
cational facilities,  better  roads,  more  extended  rural  mail  delivery, 
the  parcels  post  and  better  sanitary  conditions.  The  local,  State  or 
national  government  can  at  once  make  these  improvements  and  thus 
perform  their  part  in  the  general  uplift.  But  this  is  not  enough.  The 


124  CONFERENCE  FOR  EDUCATION. 

farmers  must  have  more  money  with  which  to  satisfy  wants — real 
wants  which  urban  dwellers  now  satisfy  but  which  rural  dwellers 
must  leave  unsatisfied.  What  is  needed  is,  first  of  all,  a  larger  net  in- 
come. Then  the  farmers  could  make  fuller  use  of  the  schools  placed 
at  their  disposal;  could  pay  the  charges  of  the  parcels  post,  and  buy 
parcels  to  be  carried;  could  subscribe  for  farm  papers  and  magazines 
and  more  fully  utilize  the  rural  mail  delivery;  could  have  horses  and 
carriages  or  automobiles  and  use  the  better  roads,  which  would  do 
so  much  toward  social  betterment,  and  could  maintain  more  sanitary 
homes. 

Nor  is  it  enough  that  the  farmers  should  be  enabled  to  fully  use 
and  appreciate  these  agencies  or  institutions  established  for  him  by 
governments.  With  a  larger  net  income  the  farmers  could  have  tele- 
phones, could  encourage  interurban  lines  and  use  them  from  time  to 
time  in  order  to  keep  more  nearly  in  touch  with  the  economic,  in- 
tellectual and  social  development  of  the  cities.  They  could  reduce 
some  of  the  drudgery  of  farming  by  greater  utilization  of  machinery; 
hire  more  and  better  labor  and  give  their  children  more  and  better 
educational  advantages;  improve  their  buildings  and  grounds;  shorten 
their  hours  of  labor  and  in  all  directions  raise  the  social,  economic  and 
intellectual  standing  of  the  agricultural  class. 

THE  NEW  AGRicri/rrKi:. 

When  once  this  new  agriculture  is  established  tin-  fanner 
will  no  longer  exploit  nature  and  having  done  so  sell  the  rem- 
nants and  go  to  town.  Xor  will  he  leave  in  large  numbers  To 
go  into  city  industries  or  send  his  children  there.  Having 
learned  the  science  of  agriculture  and  having  become  a  busi- 
ness man  he  will  apply  his  science  in  a  businesslike  way.  and 
instead  of  existing,  as  is  so  often  the  case  now.  he  will  live  in 
the  country  and  build  his  home  there.  It  has  recently  been 
clearly  shown  that  for  what  the  farmer  now  pays  for  a  good 
city  lot  for  a  home  he  could  put  all  of  the  comforts  of  city  life 
on  the  farm— "water  pressure,  bath  and  toilet  room,  a  lighting 
plant,  power  laundry  machinery,  vacuum  cleaner  (for  house 
cleaning),"  and  at  the  same  time  he  would  have  a  source  of 
power  which  could  be  used  to  run  washing  machine,  dish- 
washer, churn,  etc.  Under  this  new  system  there  would  b»- 
no  monthly  water,  gas  and  electric  light  bills  or  high  tax  or  in- 
surance rates.  Then.  Tco.  the  "choicest  physical  blessings  are 
to  be  found,"  good  air,  plenty  of  room,  open  sunshine  or  shade. 


MR.  COULTER.  125 

and  security  from  dangerously  infectious  di><-asrs.  Country 
lift-,  with  businesslike  farming,  might  easily  he  made  more  sat- 
isfactory than  modern  city  advantages. 

I  have  pointed  out  some  of  the  advantages  of  concerted  ac- 
tion. But  it  is  not  only  in  order  to  get  larger  profits  that  I 
urge  cooperation.  It  is,  again,  to  secure  a  better  civilization. 
Mr.  Wallace,  one  of  Iowa's  veteran  farmers,  has  said:  "Co- 
operative organizations  for  making  or  saving  money  are  val- 
uable largely  because  they  lead  to  a  wider  and  nobler  coopera- 
tion in  matters  social,  educational  and  religious.  As  farmers 
are  brought  together  in  these  money-making  or  money -saving 
enterprises  they  become  better  acquainted  with  their  fellows, 
have  a  higher  appreciation  of  the  sterling  virtues  of  their  neigh- 
bors, and  unconsciously  acquire  broader  views  of  life  and  its 
duties,  thus  slowly  but  surely  preparing  the  way  for  a  much 
higher  rural  civilization."  This  is  surely  one  of  the  important 
uses  of  cooperation.  It  gets  men  to  think  and  feel  and  act  to- 
gether for  the  good  of  all  concerned.  But  the  importance  of 
the  monetary  gains  are  not  to  he  overlooked  since  this  makes 
possible  a  happy  life.  Still  another  valuable  result  of  coop- 
erating is  the  fact  that  it  encourages  attention  to  small  things 
—  details — it  teaches  frugality:  it  discourages  waste:  it  is  ele- 
vating. 

If  I  have  given  much  attention  to  the  earlier  agricultural 
movements,  and  the  changes  of  the  last  quarter  of  a  century, 
it  has  been  to  show  the  complete  breaking  down  of  the  earlier 
system  and  how  serious  is  the  problem  of  reorganization.  If  I 
have  devoted  much  space  to  the  concentration  of  industries 
taken  away  from  the  farms  and  to  the  growth  of  a  new  and 
complex  market  system.  I  have  done  so  to  show  how  large  and 
difficult  s(,me  of  the  farmer's  present  economic  problems  are. 
If  I  have  seemed  to  irive  undue  attention  to  \vhat  I  cosisider 
to  be  the  national  ideal,  it  has  been  because  of  the  importance 
of  the  burden  which  I  feel  rests  upon  all  of  us  to  see  that  this 
industry — and  in  fact  all  industry  —  is  directed  along  the  right 
course.  I  have  urged  that  every  effort  should  be  made  to  se- 
cure a  reasonable  profit  for  the  farmer  in  order  that  the  ad- 


126  CONFERENCE  FOR  EDUCATION. 

vantages  of  present  day  civilization  might  be  made  available 
for  his  use.  Cooperation  has  been  suggested  as  one  way  of 
securing  results,  but  you  are  right  if  you  insist  that  this  is  not 
a  cure-all.  It  is  not  urged  as  a  panacea  for  all  ills. 

BETTER  USE  OF  SCHOOL  SYSTEM  is  Now  NECESSARY. 

Two  other  lines  of  attack  are  open.  I  shall  only  refer  to 
them  and  leave  you  to  work  out  the  details.  The  first  is  to 
modify  to  some  extent  our  present  educational  system.  In 
what  way  can  it  be  modified  to  help  to  place  agriculture  on  its 
feet?  I  wish  to  urge  that  one  way  is  to  modify  the  courses  in 
mathematics.  When  the  students  are  called  upon  to  do  prob- 
lems in  adding,  subtracting,  multiplying  or  dividing  why  should 
they  not  use  figures  based  upon  the  facts  which  they  will  be 
confronted  with  in  all  after  life  ?  When  they  are  taught  to 
read  or  write  or  sing  they  get  facts  which  they  use  daily  in 
after  life.  They  purchase  or  are  supplied  with  writing  books. 
drawing  books,  etc. ;  why  not  have  simple  account  books  in 
arithmetic  and  have  practical  problems  presented  to  work  out  ? 
It  would  not  be  long  before  the  boys  and  girls  would  be  keeping 
complete  account  books  of  all  farm  transactions.  Problems  in 
interest  and  partial  payments  would  have  a  real  meaning  to  the 
children. 

What  would  be  the  result  of  this  new  system  .' 

(1)  Children  would  continue  to  get  an  excellent  training  in 
arithmetic;  (2)  they  would  be  trained  to  think;  (3)  they  would 
learn  the  value  of  accounts  and  understand  how  to  keep  track 
of  their  business  intelligently;  (4)  they  would  take  a  real  live 
interest  in  the  farm;  (5)  they  would  develop  into  business  peo- 
ple of  ability  as  they  launched  for  themselves,  and  (6)  they 
would  be  helpful  to  their  parents — being  able  to  use  their  arith- 
metic to  direct  advantage  without  detracting  from  its  cultural 
value. 

With  a  competent  accountant  in  each  family  who  could 
know  the  cost  of  production,  what  things  were  produced  at  a 
profit,  when  and  why  1<  ss«js  occurred  and  when  to  store  goods 


MR.  COULTER.  1-J7 

to  await  fair  prices,  agriculture  would  have  been  advanced  the 
first  step  toward  a  sound  business  basis. 

The  other  great  industries  are  composed  of  large  units  con- 
centrated into  small  space.  Great  division  of  labor  is  possible 
there.  Special  accountants  and  office  men  are  possible.  But 
in  agriculture,  some  one  on  each  farm  mast  be  versed  in  the 
first  principles  of  accounting  before  agriculture  can  be  exten- 
sively improved.  AYhen  it  comes  to  cooperative  enterprises  and 
especially  marketing  the  farmers  would  then  have  sons  and 
daughters  available  and  able  to  become  efficient  managers,  ex- 
pert accountants,  etc.,  and  would  be  sure  that  their  affaire  were 
in  honest  hands.  These  young  people  would  also  be  ready  to 
accept  positions  such  as  statisticians  for  gathering  facts  val- 
uable for  farmers  to  know. 

Xor  would  I  stop  with  the  grade  schools  or  consolidated 
rural  schools.  In  the  high  schools  or  district  agricultural 
schools  I  would  introduce  farm  management  in  elementary 
form:  and  with  this  would  come  elementary  principles  in  busi- 
ness methods,  how  to  deal  with  banks,  in  credit,  how  to  buy 
and  sell  intelligently  and  to  organize  a  business  unit.  I  would 
follow  this  in  the  college  courses  with  a  study  of  the  more  dif- 
ficult, complex,  intricate  social  system— courses  in  rural  social 
sciences.  Here  would  come  a  careful  study  of  the  factors  in 
production,  land  tenure  and  the  rent  question,  taxation  and 
tariff  problems:  the  question  of  labor  and  equipment;  the  trans- 
portation problems:  the  ways  of  collecting,  grading,  cleaning, 
sorting  or  mixing  of  farm  products:  the  packing,  shipping  and 
storing  of  the  same,  and  finally,  the  marketing  of  the  produce 
of  the  farm  and  the  purchasing  of  the  things  needed  in  return. 
Here  would  come  also  a  study  of  the  commission  and  brokerage 
business,  the  functions  and  methods  i.f  rperation  of  chambers 
of  commerce,  boards  of  trade,  coffee  and  cotton  exchanges. 
Here.  too.  would  come  a  study  of  the  present  selling  systems  — 
the  single  store,  the  department  stores,  the  catalogue  houses. 
This  would  be  followed  by  a  study  of  the  possibilities  of  co- 
operation and  other  forms  of  business  organization.  Rural  so- 
ciology, sanitation,  politics  and  law  should  be  given  their  proper 


128  CONFERENCE  FOR  EDUCATION. 

attention.     I  am   emphasizing  now  the  importance  and  some- 
thing of  the  scope  of  the  business  side. 

EXTENSION   SYSTKM. 

I  spoke  of  two  ways  of  starting:  the  wheels  of  readjust- 
ment. The  first  was  to  use  our  present  rural  institutions  of 
learning.  The  second  is  to  apply  the  extension  idea.  The  ideal 
of  Wisconsin  is  to  teach  anybody,  anything,  anywhere.  They 
are  just  beginning  to  get  their  machinery  into  working  order. 
But  how  to  apply  it  to  our  case :  First  let  the  State  supply 
itself  with-  a  man  equipped  to  give  the  latest  and  best  on  all 
phases  of  farm  management  and  farm  economics.  Let  him  be 
prepared  to  respond  to  all  calls  where  a  score  or  more  farmers 
wish  information  on  a  particular  subject.  Let  him  be  prepared 
to  give  regular  courses  of  study  by  correspondence  to  all  who 
apply  to  do  work  "in  absentia"  and  let  him  give  any  time  re- 
maining to  investigating  these  economic  problems— preparing 
pamphlet  reports  on  one  after  another.  Let  these  be  made  the 
basis  for  debating  clubs.  Let  bulletins  be  sent  to  all  who  ask, 
telling  how  to  organize  debating  clubs  and  local  business  r<  n- 
cerns,  giving  simple  rules  and  even  sample  constitutions  and 
by-laws.  In  this  way  the  farmers  will  be  introduced  to  this 
new,  strange  subject,  business  economics. 

Little  groups  of  farmers  are  now  organixing  in  all  parts  of 
most  of  the  States  of  the  Union  seeking  information  on  all  of 
these  subjects.  At  the  present  time  marketing  is  uppermost  in 
their  minds,  but  information  on  all  of  the  other  subjects  would 
be  gladly  received.  They  are  on  the  right  track.  AVill  you  put 
a  man  at  the  switch  and  prevent  future  wrecks' 

In  conclusion  I  would  say  we  may  paint  pictures  of  the 
beauties  of  nature  for  generations  to  come:  we  may  sing  of  the 
glories  of  freedom  and  fresh  air;  we  may  extol  the  possible  com- 
forts of  suburban  homes:  we  may  establish  free  mail  service 
and  set  out  other  agencies  and  institutions :  yes,  we  may  even 
condemn  the  country  people  for  swarming  to  our  large  cities, 
and  tell  them  how  happy  they  are  in  the  country,  if  they  only 
knew  it;  but  I  am  firm  in  the  belief  that  agriculture  and  life 


MR.  COULTER.  129 

in  the  opv?i  country  can  never  be  elevated  to  the  place  it  de- 
serves until  it  is  placed  upon  a  profitable  business  basis.  Then 
we  will  find  in  the  <  pen  <-<>mitry  all  of  the  j^ood  things  which 
£ro  to  make  up  a  truly  enlightened  civilization. 

MR.  OGDEX  —  Ladies  and  irentlemen  :  Let  me  remind  yen  that 
we  waited  a  half  hour  for  the  audience  and  therefore  I  desire 
to  bespeak  for  the  next  speaker  your  careful  attention  while 
he  pursues  the  subject  that  has  been  so  well  Driven  to  us  by  the 
last  speaker.  I  have  the  pleasure  to  present  Mr.  (iifford  Piu- 
chot.  who  is  uuintr  to  tell  us  how  the  national  jrovernment  may 
e<,« 'pei-ate  \\-jth  the  States  in  betterinir  rural  conditions. 


MR.  PIXCIIOT. 
XATIOXAI.  PROGRESS  ix  CorxTRY  LIFE. 

The  progress  made  by  the  United  States  in  the  past  quarter 
century  is  moi-e  varied  and  more  striking  than  that  of  any 
other  country  in  any  similar  period  of  the  world's  history. 
But  the  benefits  of  that  progress  have  not  been  distributed 
evenly.  There  has  been  inequality  of  opportunity,  which  is 
without  question  one  of  th"  worst  evils  from  which  this  nation 
.suffers .  and  there  has  also  been  inequitable  distribution  of  re- 
wards for  work  of  equal  merit  and  value.  Opportunity  and 
reward  are  not  equal  for  all  the  citizens  within  any  city,  or  as 
between  any  two  cities;  and  they  are  especially  different  as  be- 
twren  the  city  and  the  open  country.  The  rewards  of  city  life 
have  hitherto  been  considered  to  be  greater  than  the  rewards 
of  country  life,  not  because  they  are  so  in  final  reality,  but 
principally  because  they  have  been  better  understood  and  be- 
cause of  the  better  organization  of  life  in  cities.  There  has 
ILTown  up  in  eonseqiu-nee  a  strong  movement  from  the  country 
to  the  city  and  an  equally  important  tendency  both  amonjr  city 
and  country  dwellers  to  minimize  the  advantages  of  Hie  in  the 
country  and  to  look  down  upon  the  occupation  of  the  farmer. 

The  result  is  to  weaken  countrv  life,  and  it  is  or  should  be 


130  CONFERENCE  FOR  EDUCATION. 

of  the  most  serious  concern  to  the  whole  Nation.  Xo  nation 
can  continue  to  prosper  unless  its  civilization  is  built  on  the 
abiding  foundation  of  a  strong-  and  satisfied  life  in  the  open 
country. 

The  prosperity  of  the  open  country  is  not  a  farm  question 
alone.  On  the  contrary  it  is  a  question  which  affects  every 
division  of  the  nation,  the  city  less  directly,  but  scarcely  less 
vitally,  than  the  country  itself. 

The  question  of  better  life  in  the  country  is  one  with  which 
both  the  State  and  the  national  government  are  intimately  con- 
cerned, but  in  which  they  can  do  little  more  than  point  the  way. 
The  farmers  themselves  must  decide.  If  country  life  is  to  be- 
come more  dignified,  better  thought  of,  with  larger  rewards  in 
comfort,  income  and  social  advantages,  it  must  be  the  farmer 
who  will  bring  it  about.  Otheis  can  help,  for  this  is  a  national 
problem,  but  the  solution  itself  lies  essentially  with  the  man 
who  lives  in  the  country. 

If  the  farmer  decides  that  he  will  have  country  schools 
which  train  his  children  for  life  in  the  country,  then  such 
schools  will  arise,  and  the  farm  children  will  grow  up  with  a 
keener  zest  in  country  life,  a  deeper  knowledge  of  it  and  a  bet- 
ter opportunity  to  succeed  on  the  farm. 

If  the  farmer  decides  that  he  will  have  better  means  of 
communication  in  the  country,  ther.  more  lelephones  and  betier 
roads  will  come,  and  with  them  more  rural  free  delivery  routes, 
and  the  parcels  pest.  The  latter  the  farmers  of  the  United 
States  already  want,  and  want  unanimously,  out  they  do  not 
yet  seem  to  have  decided  that  tliey  will  have  it.  When  they  do 
they  will  get  it. 

If  the  farmer  decides  that  lie  will  have  better  sanitation  on 
the  farm  then  the  fearful  tax  of  stricken,  wasted  lives,  and  un- 
timely deaths  will  cease,  especially  in  the  South,  and  farm  life 
will  be  freed  from  one  of  its  m<  st  serious  detractions. 

Mcst  important  of  all,  for  it  includes  all  the  others,  if  the 
farmer  decides  that  he  will  himself  put  an  end  to  his  own  iso- 
lation and  work  in  cooperation  with  his  fellows  for  all  the 


MB.  PINCHOT.  131 

objects  of  united  interest  common  to  the  farmers  of  each  farm- 
ing neighborhood,  then  the  beginning  of  great  things  will  have 
arrived.  The  cooperative  spirit  is  the  master  spirit  of  this  age, 
and  the  farmer  IMS  been  the  last  to  feel  its  influence  and  re- 
spond. In  spite  rf  the  great  good  accomplished  by  the  Farm- 
ers' l"n ion  and  the  (J range,  our  farmers  as  a  whole  are  largely 
unorganized  for  their  own  benefit.  Practically  all  the  interests 
with  which  the  farmer  deals  are  organized  and  in  effect  or- 
ganized against  him.  AVithout  organization  the  farmer  is  help- 
less. It  is  another  case  for  applying  the  wise  old  adage  "United 
we  stand,  divided  we  fall." 

Organization  among  farmers  means  better  farming,  for 
many  heads  are  better  than  one.  It  means  better  business,  for 
if  anything  is  clear  in  modern  business  life  it  is  that  the  man 
who  stands  alone  is  at  a  disadvantage.  And  most  of  all,  it 
means  better  living  on  the  farm,  better  social  and  educational 
advantages  for  the  farmer,  his  wife  and  their  children;  more 
comfort,  greater  satisfaction  and  less  desire  to  leave  the  farm. 
When  the  things  that  make  life  worth  living  are  found  in 
greater  abundance  in  the  country  than  in  the  towns,  as  some 
day  we  shall  all  see  that  they  are  or  should  be  found,  then  coun- 
try life  will  take  its  rightful  place.  And  the  way  to  reach  it  is 
along  the  road  of  cooperation. 

It  is  by  setting  such  facts  as  these  plainly  before  the  farm- 
ers of  the  United  States  that  the  State  and  National  govern- 
ments can  best  help  the  farmers  themselves  take  the  next  step 
to  further  their  own  betterment.  The  United  States  Depart- 
ment of  Agriculture  and  the  State  agricultural  collegas  and 
experiment  stations  have  established  a  broad  foundation  of 
available  knowledge  on  how  to  farm.  It  is  now  time  to  lay 
more  emphasis  on  how  best  to  apply  this  knowledge  and  above 
all  on  the  fundamental  farm  problem,  which  is  this:  How 
can  the  farmer  and  his  family  realize  the  best  home  life,  the 
best  business  life  and  the  best  social  life  on  the  farm?  The 
great  problem  of  the  country  is  not  a  problem  of  crops  Iv*  of 
human  lives. 


132  CONFERENCE  FOR  EDUCATION. 


FOURTH  SESSION. 
THE  ELECTION  OF  OFFICERS. 


The  following  officers  were  elected : 

President ROBERT  C.  OGDEX. 

Vice  President B.  J.  BALDWIN'. 

Secretary WICKLIFFE  ROSE. 

Treasurer .WILLIAM  A.  BLAIR. 

MR.  OGDEN — The  first  paper  on  the  program  for  this  morn- 
ing is  by  Mrs.  B.  B.  Munford.  who  will  speak  to  us  011  "Wom- 
an's Work  for  the  Rural  Schools."  I  have  pleasure  in  intro- 
ducing Mrs.  Munford. 

MRS.  MrxFORD. 
Mr.  President,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen: 

My  paper  is  not  just  as  given  on  the  program.  Alter  con- 
ference with  Dr.  Rose  I  have  changed  it  slightly  so  that  the 
title  is  "The  Southern  Woman's  Work  for  Education-,  a  Record 
and  Interpretation." 

THE   GUANO    REV  IK  w. 

Did  you  think  that  the  march  of  the  militant  ranks, 

That  the  legions  that  down  to  the  battle  deploy, 
That  the  carnival  crews  with  their  innocent  pranks, 

That  the  files  that  go  by  in  the  festals  of  joy, 
Were  the  bravest,  the  finest,  the  grandest,  to  see, 

The  strongest,  the  sweetest,  the  tenderest,  true — 
These  ranks  of  man's  power,  these  corps  of  his  glee 

That  pass  through  the  ages  in  time's  grand  review? 

Then  come!  We  shall  follow  no  blare  of  the  horn. 

No  sound  of  the  bugle  nor  roll  of  the  drum. 
Come  out  to  the  mighty  review  of  the  morn — 

Where  the  children  are  marching  to  school,  let  us  come! 
Did  the  splendor,  the  glory,  the  beauty,  the  dream 

Of  life  in  its  tenderest  promise  and  grace 
On  the  front  of  a  militant  army  e'er  stream 

As  it  streams  in  its  sweetness  o'er  each  ruddy  face? 


MRS.  MUNFORD.  133 

Here  is  hope  in  the  dawn  of  its  beauty  and  pride, 

Here  is  joy  in  the  innocent  sweet  of  its  glee. 
Oh,  finely  they  sweep  as  they  swing  with  the  tide 

To  the  schools  of  the  poor  in  the  land  of  the  free! 
No  bugle  to  blare  and  no  rumble  of  gun, 

The  banner,   above  them,  alone   to   display 
The  pride  of  the  land  as  they  romp  and  they  run — 

Hats  off  to  the  schoolchildren  marching  today! 

Hats  off  to  the  army  with  books  and  with  slate, 

With  spellers  and  readers  all  armed  for  the  foe! 
Hats  off  to  the  ranks  that  are  wards  of  the  State, 

With  hearts  that  are  bonny  with  life  as  they  go! 
Stand  back  as  they  pass!     Oh,  an  army  so  fine. 

So  splendid,  so  merry,  so  gentle,  so  true, 
They  march  to  the  cheers  of  the  sweet  hopes  that  shine 

To  beckon  them  onward  in  life's  grand   review. 

THE  SOUTHERN  WOMAN'S  WORK  FOR  EDUCATION; 
A  RECORD  AND  AN  INTERPRETATION. 

What  is  the  significance  of  this  fresh  stirring  of  the  emo- 
tions and  will  of  our  women?  Whence  comes  it:  to  what  work 
is  it  committed:  whither  does  its  ideal  lead.' 

The  season  of  the  year  recalls  to  our  minds  Jesus'  last  days 
in  Jerusalem.  It  is  growing  dark,  hope  seems  dead.  It  is  writ- 
ten the  disciples  "forsook  him  and  fled."  only  the  women  have 
lingered  true  in  their  passionate  allegiance  to  the  man  and  his 
cause.  The  pewer  to  bear  and  the  power  to  believe  finds  them 
faithful  in  the  darkness  and  hastening  when  it  was  yet  early 
to  meet  and  recognize  their  risen  Lord.  A  picture  for  all  time 
of  two  of  the  essential  qualities  of  womanhood. 

The  teacher  in  the  one  room  school  of  the  remote  district, 
poorly  prepared,  lacking  in  all  the  externals  which  might  stir 
her  imagination,  burdened  beyond  her  strength,  with  no  co- 
operation and  no  sign  of  the  coming  of  the  relief  column :  the 
children  crowding  about  her  calling  for  help,  she  can  only  in- 
adequately give— a  solitary  figure — and  yet  the  same  woman 
strong  to  hope  and  to  endure.  Is  she  not  the  dramatic  figure, 
the  pivotal  point,  in  this  insistent  movement  toward  the  rural 
school  ? 


134  CONFERENCE  FOR   EDUCATION. 

In  studying  the  history  of  the  school  movement  in  the  South 
it  is  significant  that  the  first  School  Improvement  Association 
was  formed  in  Richmond  in  May.  1900,  by  five  women,  and  the 
first  State  organization  was  born  in  1902  at  the  suggestion  of 
Dr.  Mclver  at  a  woman's  industrial  college.  Did  not  this  prac- 
tical man.  who  devoted  so  large  a  portion  of  his  life  to  the  cause 
of  woman's  education,  see  dimly  that  women  are  always  eager 
for  a  gospel  of  service  and  good  news,  and  that  they  are  wont 
to  be  found  with  radiant  faces  looking  toward  the  East?  He 
knew  that  their  idealism  and  persistent  faithfulness  needed 
only  to  be  trained  to  become  a  potent  and  irresistible  factor  in 
the  uplift  of  the  Southern  States  and,  therefore,  he  wrote :  "It 
is  plain  that  the  State  and  Society,  for  the  sake  of  their  future 
educational  interests,  ought  to  decree  that  for  every  dollar  spent 
by  the  Government,  State  or  Federal,  and  by  philanthropist 
in  the  training  of  men,  at  least  another  dollar  should  be  in- 
vested in  the  work  of  educating  womankind." 

The  Southern  woman  of  an  older  generation  felt  and  was 
heard  to  say  that  the  men  of  the  Confederate  armies  were  never 
defeated,  that  they  were  only  outnumbered;  and  certain  it  is 
that  the  courage  and  endurance  of  this  Southern  woman  could 
not  know-  permanent  defeat.  Hers  was  a  devotion  that  having 
known  sorrow  and  death  has  had  the  mark  of  immortality 
stamped  upon  it.  The  daughter,  rich  in  inheritance,  about 
what  is  she  concerned  ?  Trained  to  cherish  reverently  the  mem- 
ories of  the  past  she  has  built  monuments  to  her  country's  he- 
roes that  her  children  and  her  children's  children  might  meet 
the  tasks  of  today  in  the  spirit  of  high  adventure  and  devotion 
to  duty  characteristic  of  their  forefathers. 

This  sacred  task  well  fulfilled  she  has  turned  her  attention 
to  what  General  Lee  saw  to  be  the  point  of  departure  in  the 
reconstruction  of  our  Southern  life.  She  has  set  herself  with 
determination  to  the  task  of  public  education.  "With  charac- 
teristic common  sense  and  eye  trained  to  see  and  utilize  the 
thing  at  hand  our  women  have  fastened  their  attention  upon 
the  school  in  their  midst.  The  pledge  of  membership  in  many 
of  the  school  leagues  is  touching  in  its  simplicity:  "I  hereby 


MRS.  MUNFORD.  135 

pledge  myself  to  do  at  least  one  thing  for  one  rural  school  this 
year."  Verily  it  is  a  case  <f  each  one  building  over  against 
her  own  house.  Their  initiative,  resourcefulness  and  self-re- 
liance are  shown  in  the  splendid  list  of  houses  cleaned,  repaired, 
or  built;  interiors  beautified  and  improved  in  a  thousand  sim- 
ple and  yet  infinitely  useful  ways :  grounds  cleaned  and  made 
attractive:  money  earned  for  libraries:  school  entertainments 
planned  and  executed :  children  washed  and  shod  and  brought 
to  the  schoolhouse ;  teachers  encouraged  and  inspired,  and  some- 
times a  whole  neighborhood  vivified  and  remade  by  the  throb 
of  a  common  interest  in  a  common  possession.  Many  of  the 
reports  have  the  touch  of  romance,  so  full  are  they  of  homely 
service,  under  the  spell  of  a  generous  idea.  Each  State  as  she 
has  fallen  into  line  has  seemed  to  make  some  contribution  all 
her  own  to  the  common  store  of  knowledge  which  is  slowly  gath- 
ering around  this  movement  for  the  consecration  of  the  school 
to  the  purposes  of  democracy. 

Xortli  Carolina  has  shown  the  strength  and  power  of  full 
cooperation  between  a  State  department  of  education  and  a 
citizens'  movement.  She  has  set  the  pace  for  work  along  broad 
and  comprehensive  county  and  State  lines.  In  cue  year  her 
school  improvement  leagues  have  raised  and  spent  for  school 
improvement  the  generous  sum  of  .^.l.OiHt. 

Sontlt  Carolina,  full  of  the  fire  of  her  Huguenot  blood,  is 
at  work  with  an  energy  vital  and  amazing.  She  has  put  her- 
self and  this  work  in  touch  with  the  agencies  beyond  the  State 
which  seemed  most  likely  to  stimulate  and  educate.  In  eigh- 
teen months  the  State  Organizer  has  made  three  hundred  and 
fifty  addresses  in  thirty-eight  counties.  She  reports  6,000  mem- 
bers, two-thirds  of  the  counties  organized,  and  all  counties  with 
some  associations. 

Miss  Pettit's  work  in.  K<  n1>« :k>/  stands  for  the  possibilities 
of  a  school,  based  on  first  hand  knowledge  of  conditions,  to  min- 
ister to  and  remold  the  life  of  our  mountain  people.  The  women 
of  that  State  have  shown  initiative  in  raising  funds  to  carry 
on  the  campaign  work  and  have  had  a  very  special  share  in 
shaping  the  legislative  acts  in  reference  to  education.  They 


136  CONFERENCE  FOR   EDUCATION. 

are  eligible  as  school  trustees,  and  one  woman  is  a  member  of 
the  State  Education  Commission.  They  have  laid  special  em- 
phasis upon  teachers'  and  farmers'  institutes  as  places  where 
they  might  preach  the  gospel  of  the  common  school. 

In  Tennessee  we  have  the  Farragut  School,  one  of  the  best 
developed  model  public  rural  schools  in  the  South.  Seven 
schools  for  mountain  children  have  been  started  by  the  woman's 
clubs,  and  attention  is  invited  to  the  work  of  the  "Lookout 
Committee"  in  Knoxville  to  increase  school  attendance. 

Mississippi  has  the  honor  of  having  one  of  her  women  as 
the  mother  of  the  idea  of  her  State  Industrial  School  and  Col- 
lege for  AVhite  Girls,  the  first  State  institution  of  its  kind  in 
the  United  States.  Her  women  workers  are  laying1  stress  on 
the  rural  school  as  their  peculiar  care. 

In  Alabama.  Very  early  work  was  done  for  improvement 
of  school  supervision,  and  it  has  been  the  home  of  an  interstate 
effort  for  industrial  training  of  the  white  children  of  the  South. 
The  work  for  kindergarten  among  the  mill  children  has  been 
beautifully  developed  by  Miss  Lindsay,  and  the  school  improve- 
ment leagues  have  done  valiant  service.  ' 

Arkansas  and  Louisiana  have  come  later  into  the  school 
league  work,  but  both  are  pressing  forward  with  zeal  and  in- 
telligence. The  work  of  the  Child  Labor  Committee  and  the 
enforcement  of  factory  inspection  in  New  Orleans  commands 
our  attention  and  admiration. 

The  school  work  in  Texas  is  in  very  close  touch  and  sym- 
pathy with  that  of  the  State  University.  The  work  in  that 
State  has  also  been  entirely  self-supporting.  The  Texas  women 
have  had  built  a  woman's  dormitory  at  the  State  University, 
and  also  have  had  a  large  share  in  the  work  and  management 
of  the  State  Industrial  School. 

The  special  features  of  the  Citizen's  League  work  in  Virginia 
seems  to  be  the  cooperation  in  it,  both  in  plan  and  prosecution, 
of  men  and  women.  It  has  seemingly  tended  to  develop,  among 
active  men  of  affairs,  the  sense  of  the  importance  of  the  school 
as  a  center  of  democracy.  The  work  of  the  club  women  in  sev- 
eral counties  in  bringing  to  a  successful  and  growing  develop- 


MRS.  MUNFORD.  137 

inent  a  system  of  school  and  county  fairs  is  also  worthy  of  no- 
tice and  imitation.  The  leagues  in  that  State  have  raised, 
during  the  past  two  years,  the  sum  of  $12.000. 

We  cannot  think  of  G?oryia  without  the  picture  of  Miss 
Berry  and  her  boys  for  whom  she  has  made  a  ''chance  in  life" 
a  real  and  tangible  thing.  Four  model  rural  schools  and  the 
library  work  are  under  the  care  of  the  Federation  of  Women's 
Clubs.  The  presence  of  a  goodly  number  of  college  women  in 
the  State  seems  to  bring  into  prominence  the  scientific  study 
of  educational  and  social  problems.  And  at  the  other  end  of 
the  scale  Mrs.  Hill,  with  her  band  of  farmers'  wives,  is  journey- 
ing up  to  the  State  University  at  Athens  that  they  too  may 
share  in  some  of  the  good  things  now  abroad  in  the  land— so 
far  as  I  know — the  first  attempt  in  a  Southern  State  of  a  con- 
ference of  farmers'  wives  under  the  ivgis  of  a  leading  State 
educational  institution. 

This  is  but  a  rough  sketch  in  outline  of  some  of  the  salient 
features  of  our  Southern  women's  achievements.  Surely  they 
have  been  stirred  to  a  purpose  and  their  efficient  and  self-effac- 
ing service  is  the  child  of  a  great  idea.  Edgar  Gardner  Murphy 
has  pictured  their  vision:  ''The  great  thronging  masses  of 
men  alive  and  radiant  with  those  capacities  and  efficiencies 
which  redeem  the  waste  and  silence  of  the  world."  A  race  of 
free  men,  self-knowing,  self-directing,  self-devoted  to  the  com- 
mon good.  Is  not  the  insight  which  recognizes  the  school  as 
the  potent  factor  in  such  a  democracy  a  true  and  lawful  one? 

The  recent  report  of  the  government  "Commission  on  Coun- 
try Life"  as  to  the  needs  of  rural  neighborhoods  gives  the  fol- 
lowing: Better  facilities  for  communication,  business  organi- 
xation  of  the  community  through  cooperative  buying  and  sell- 
ing, enrichment  of  the  social  life,  reorganization  of  the  school 
to  meet  the  needs  of  the  life  about  it.  The  school  adjusted  to 
neighborhood  needs  is  the  seed-corn  from  which  shall  spring  first 
the  blade,  then  the  ear  and  finally  the  full  corn  in  the  ear  of 
the  new  conception  of  country  life.  The  movement  for  good 
roads  is  a  necessary  concomitant  to  the  growth  of  the  consoli- 
dated school.  The  sense  of  common  needs  and  purposes,  the 


138  CONFERENCE  FOR  EDUCATION. 

consciousness  of  group  power  and  the  ability  to  cooperate  are 
the  natural  fruits  of  an  ordered  school.  The  sports  and  games 
and  the  well  planned  entertainment  are  forms  rich  in  sugges- 
tion for  supplying  our  need  for  social  enjoyment.  Jane  Ad- 
ams insists  "that  education  ought  to  do  this  thing  for  every- 
body—make them  able  to  judge  a  thing  in  its  own  setting  and 
not  merely  by  its  appearances.  Education  ought  to  give  us 
something  of  a  background  for  the  interpretation  of  the  af- 
fairs before  our  eyes."  The  school,  then,  must  interpret  the 
neighborhood  to  itself  and  it  must  at  the  same  time  fit  the  child 
for  participation  in  the  life  of  its  own  neighborhood. 

This  conception  of  the  school  reveals  larger  possibilities  for 
our  work.  The  School  Improvement  League  may  blossom  into 
the  Civic  Betterment  Association,  including  good  roads,  intel- 
ligent and  intensive  soil  culture,  cooperative  associations  and 
social  life,  which  refreshes  and  invigorates  in  its  purposes.  In 
short  the  school  may  be  made  the  conscious  center  of  a  real  de- 
mocracy. 

Keen  intuition  and  large  thought,  eyen  if  dimly  appre- 
hended, lies  back  of  the  joyous  sense  of  patriotism  issuing  in 
service  wrhich  has  dominated  our  women.  They  have  recog- 
nized, in  the  South,  the  people's  splendid  idealism,  their  native 
capacity  for  statesmanship,  their  power  of  persistent  effort  in 
the  face  of  difficulty  and  their  willingness  to  die  for  the  idea 
that  possesses  them.  They  have  seen  these  qualities  unified 
and  consecrated,  shot  through  with  the  passionate  belief  in  the 
inherent  worth  of  every  human  soul  and  the  value  of  each  man 
as  an  end  in  himself.  A  new  sense  of  brotherhood  is  abroad  in 
the  land  and  the  women  hasten  to  make  it  a  reality.  The  little 
sehoolhouse  has  tfie  light  of  romance  upon  it  as  it  has  become 
for  them  a  potent  and  directive  force  in  the  preparation  of  our 
young  citizens  for  participation  in  this  Christian  vision  of  the 
"Kingdom  of  God"  come  upon  earth.  The  pathos  and  worth 
of  the  patient  teacher  has  made  its  appeal,  she  is  stirred  by  the 
whispered  news  that  the  relief  column  is  at  last  in  motion  and 
her  sister  women  engaged  in  a  quest  which  means  freedom  for 
her  to  see,  and  training  for  her,  to  the  end  that  she  may  do. 


MRS.  MUNFORD.  139 

Does  the  shrinking  woman  in  us  murmur  "if  thou  hast  run 
with  the  footmen  and  they  have  wearied  thee.  then  how  canst 
thou  contend  with  horses'"  We  have  the  answer  Mordecai 
made  to  Esther:  "If  thou  altogether  boldest  thy  peace  at  this 
time,  then  shall  relief  and  deliverance  arise  from  another  place, 
but  thou  and  thy  father's  house  shall  perish.  And  who  knoweth, 
whether  thou  art  not  come  to  the  kingdom,  for  such  a  time  as 
this." 

Shall  not  the  endurance  which  found  woman  faithful  at  the 
cross,  and  the  vision  which  brought  her  first  sight  of  the  Master 
newly  risen,  hearten  us  for  this  day's  opportunity" 

"Oh  do  not  pray  for  tasks  equal  to  your  powers.  Pray  for 
powers  equal  to  your  tasks.  Then  the  doing  of  your  work  shall 
be  no  miracle.  Every  day  you  shall  wonder  at  yourself  and 
the  richness  of  life  which  has  come  into  you  by  the  grace  of 
God!" 

MR.  OGDEX — "The  Woman's  Club  as  a  Factor  in  Educa- 
tion," by  Dr.  Lilian  W.  Johnson,  of  Tennessee. 

Miss   JOHNSON*. 
THE  WOMAN'S  CLUB  AS  A  FACTOR  IN  EDUCATION. 

Have  you  stood  upon  the  shores  of  the  sea  and  gazed  out 
over  its  illimitable  stretches  of  water,  fascinated  by  its  gleaming, 
iridescent  beauty,  exhilarated  by  the  freshness  and  purity  of 
its  breath,  awed  by  the  sheer  mass  and  power  of  it,  when  sud- 
denly there  came  to  you  the  thought  that  here  at  your  feet  lay 
pulsating  the  greatest  store  of  unused  energy  in  the  universe? 
Man  has  drawn  lightning  from  the  sky  and  chained  it  for  his 
use;  he  has  harnessed  the  raging  mountain  torrent  and  made 
it  do  his  bidding,  but  the  sea.  rocking  back  and  forth  within 
the  bounds  which  nature  has  set  for  it.  led  hither  and  yon  by 
its  master,  the  moon,  has  ever  defied  man's  efforts  to  bind  it  to 
any  constructive  service. 

Thus  the  sea  seems  a  prototype  of  the  womanhood  of  the 
past  ages.  Ever  restless  within  the  bounds  which  nature  seemed 


140  CONFERENCE  FOR  EDUCATION. 

to  have  set  for  her,  led  here  and  there  by  her  master,  man.  For 
many  ages  she  had  little  part  in  the  constructive  work  of  the 
world.  Until  some  fifty  years  ago — was  it  among  the  bleak  hills 
of  New  England,  or  on  the  broad  prairies  of  Indiana?  Both 
claim  the  honor — a  little  group  of  women  drew  out  from  the 
mass  of  womanhood  and  formed  a  club.  Not  with  the  idea  of 
doing  anything,  oh,  no!  They  came  together  simply  for  the 
purpose  of  putting  some  new  interest  into  their  own  lives  and 
of  improving  their  minds,  for  the  iron  hand  of  modern  ma- 
chinery had  reached  into  their  homes  and  had  taken  away  most 
of  the  processes  which  not  only  had  given  the  chief  interest 
to  household  work,  but  which  had  been  the  chief  means  of  ed- 
ucating our  foremothers.  It  was  not  that  modern  progress  had 
robbed  the  home  of  all  its  problems  of  interest,  but  those  left 
behind  were  such  as  could  be  solved  only  by  the  highest  train- 
ing in  the  modern  sciences  of  biology,  chemistry  psychology 
and  sociology,  and  training  along  these  lines  was  denied  to  the 
women  of  those  days.  Therefore,  thrown  back  upon  themselves 
these  women  came  together  seeking  a  new  interest  and  means 
of  self-culture.  But  just  because  they  were  organized  things 
came  to  them  to  be  done. 

The  activities  which  the  women's  clubs  took  up  were  as  va- 
ried as  the  needs  of  the  communities  in  which  they  were  organ- 
ized. It  was  by  doing  the  thing  needed  just  at  hand  that  the 
work  broadened  out  beyond  the  local  community  to  the  limits 
of  the  State  and  then  into  national  affairs.  Here  was  a  girl 
who  could  go  to  college  if  only  a  little  money  was  raised.  So 
a  scholarship  was  given,  until  thousands  of  girls  have  had  a 
college  course  made  possible  to  them,  and  dormitories  have  been 
established  for  them  at  various  institutions  through  the  efforts 
of  the  club  women. 

A  club  in  the  country  could  not  carry  on  its  work  for  lack 
of  books.  So  a  library  was  collected  and  sent  to  this  club,  until 
today  more  than  three  hundred  thousand  books  are  being  sent 
over  the  land  to  comfort  the  lonely,  to  instruct  the  ignorant, 
to  give  inspiration  and  new  life  to  those  living  in  the  back- 
water districts,  while  in  many  places  permanent  free  libraries 


Miss   JOHNSON.  141 

have  been  established  by  the  efforts  of  club  women,  and  through 
their  help  library  commissions  have  been  organized  in  many 
States. 

The  club  women  peeped  into  the  schoolroom  and  finding  no 
pictures  on  the  walls,  and  no  books  for  supplementary  reading, 
there  began  the  cooperation  of  the  club  women  with  the  public 
school  teacher  which  has  led  to  the  great  movement  of  public 
school  improvement  which  has  not  only  decorated  the  walls  of 
the  schoolhouse,  provided  libraries,  reformed  sanitary  condi- 
tions and  beautified  the  yards,  but  which  has  modified  the  cur- 
riculum, making  possible  manual  training  and  domestic  science; 
has  established  kindergartens :  provided  playgrounds  and  school 
gardens,  and  is  now  taking  thought  for  the  physical  condition 
of  the  child. 

The  "Woman's  Club,  of  Chicago,  maintained  a  school  in  the 
Cook  County  jail  for  the  young  delinquents  herded  there  among 
hardened  criminals,  and  out  of  this  has  grown  the  movement 
of  the  Juvenile  Court,  which  is  spreading  to  all  our  large  cities 
and  is  doing  so  much  to  prevent  the  development  of  a  criminal 
class. 

During  many  years  individual  clubs  sprang  up  all  over  the 
country,  irradually  taking  up  various  lines  of  work,  too  numer- 
ous to  mention  in  this  short  discussion,  until  there  came  the 
need  of  closer  cooperation,  and  in  1889  the  Sorosis  Club,  of 
New  York,  called  together  a  few  literary  clubs.  Out  of  this 
meeting  the  following  year  there  grew  the  General  Federation 
of  Women's  Clubs,  which  now  includes  forty-seven  State  fed- 
erations, with  more  than  ten  thousand  individual  clubs,  with 
a  membership  ;>f  approximately  eight  hundred  thousand.  To- 
day there  is  no  work  making  for  human  progress  in  city  or 
State  in.  which  the  women  are  not  lending  a  hand,  and  already 
are  they  recognized  in  national  affairs.  One  woman,  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  General  Federation  of  "Women's  Clubs,  was  invited 
by  President  Roosevelt  to  attend  the  Conference  of  Governors 
to  discuss  the  preservation  of  the  natural  resources  of  the  Nation. 
The  passage  of  the  National  Food  Law  was  due  in  large  meas- 
ure to  the  efforts  of  the  club  women. 


142  CONFERENCE  KOK   Km 'CATION. 

But  it  is  to  education  especially  that  the  club  women  are 
devoting  their  efforts.  The  General  Federation  uniting  with  the 
two  associations  of  college  women,  the  Association  of  Collegiate 
Alumnae,  and  the  Southern  Association  of  College  Women,  with 
the  Congress  of  Mothers  and  the  Council  of  Jewish  Women, 
have  organized  as  a  department  of  the  National  Education  As- 
sociation, and  are  now  striving  to  cooperate  with  the  educators 
of  the  Nation  in  an  effort  to  secure  for  every  child  of  the  land 
the  best  training  for  life.  Not  only  lias  every  State  Federation 
its  educational  committee,  but  every  local  club,  whatever  its 
particular  interest,  is  asked  to  appoint  an  educational  commit- 
-tee,  or  at  least  an  educational  member,  to  take  part  in  some 
phase  of  the  educational  uplift.  This  Department  of  National 
Organizations  of  Women,  including  as  it  does  nearly  a  million 
women,-  is  aiming  to  secure,  (1)  the  best  legislation  in  each 
State  concerning  birth  registration,  child  labor,  compulsory 
school  attendance  and  juvenile  courts;  (2)  a  sufficient  number 
of  well-equipped  and  well-cared  for  schoolhouses  in  every  lo- 
cality; (3)  a  properly  trained  and  adequately  paid  teaching 
force;  (4)  expert  paid  supervision  of  all  school  work;  (5)  train- 
ing for  the  hand  and  moral  instruction  in  all  public  schools. 
Does  this  not  mean  new  and  better  things  for  the  childhood  of 
the  Nation  ? 

Through  this  organized  club  work  women  have  made  two 
important  discoveries.  The  first,  that  which  the  Greeks  counted 
greatest  of  all,  "know  thyself."  Through  organization  the 
wroman  of  today  has  found  herself.  She  has  discovered  a  place 
and  a  use  for  every  talent  she  possesses,  a  possibility  of  devel- 
opment for  every  power  lying  dormant  within  her.  So  the  or- 
ganized womanhood  of  the  world  is  rapidly  becoming  one  of 
the  greatest  constructive  agencies  in  modern  progress. 

But  not  only  have  women  found  themselves,  they  have  also 
solved  that  vexed  and  much  discussed  question  of  what  is  a 
woman's  sphere.  We  can  only  surmise  as  to  what  prehistoric 
man  told  his  woman  was  her  sphere  (though  some  of  us  sus- 
pect that  first  tree-top  house  was  made  to  shelter  a  child),  but 
historic  man  has  never  left  us  in  doubt  upon  his  views  of  a 


Miss   JOHNSON.  143 

woman's  sphere,  though  too  often  he  has  interpreted  a  home 
as  a  place  where  he  could  get  three  square  meals  a  day.  While 
many  a  woman  confined  within  the  walls  of  a  home  has  paced 
halls  that  reechoed  only  with  sad  memories  and  dead  hopes, 
and  has  cried  out  for  something  vital  and  living  to  love  and  to 
live  for,  the  woman  of  today  refuses  to  accept  the  mandate  of 
the  man  that  the  home  is  her  sphere,  and  hy  the  thousands  she 
is  leaving  both  the  home  and  the  man.  The  organized  woman- 
hood of  today  has  discovered  her  sphere  in  work  for  the  child, 
and  lifting  in  her  strong  arms  not  one  child,  but  the  childhood 
of  the  world:  she  is  saying,  "Here  is  my  sphere,  here  can  I 
give  my  life  and  my  heart  in  fullest  measure."  Then,  indeed, 
when  she  discovers  that  the  child  needs  the  home  for  its  best 
and  freest  development  will  she  build  again  the  home,  this  time 
with  the  mirsery,  not  the  kitchen  as  the  centre. 

A  modest  girl  protested  against  taking  courses  in  house- 
hold economics  on  the  ground  that  it  looked  as  if  she  was  seek- 
ing a  husband.  The  opportunity  of  creating  a  home  may  not 
come  to  every  woman,  but  so  varied  are  the  phases  of  child- 
culture  that  every  woman  may  find  a  place  for  her  peculiar 
talent.  Therefore  let  us  introduce  into  oitr  schools  and  colleges 
courses  on  child  training.  We  need  tens  of  thousands  of  women 
to  care  for  and  educate  the  children  of  the  land.  To  leave,  as 
we  do,  the  child  during  its  most  formative  and  susceptible  years 
to  the  care  of  ignorant  and  indifferent  nurses  is  to  sap  the  vi- 
tality of  the  Nation  at  its  foundation.  When  shall  we  learn 
that  the  human  infant  should  be  bred  and  trained  with  the 
same  scientific  care  as  the  animal  and  the  plant  / 

"And  they  brought  unto  him  also  their  babes,  that  he  should 
touch  them:  but  when  the  disciples  saw  it.  they  rebuked  them. 
But  Jesus  called  them  unto  him.  saying.  Suffer  the  little  chil- 
dren to  come  unto  me.  and  forbid  them  not ;  for  of  such  is  the 
kingdom  of  God." 

Has  it  taken  us  two  thousand  years  to  learn  what  the  Christ 
wished  to  teach  us.'  Let  us  thank  God  that  at  last  our  eyes 
are  opened ;  that  at  last  we  have  learned  the  first  lines  of  the 
lesson  that  national  health,  national  prosperity  and  national 


144  CONFERENCE  FOR   EDITATJOX. 

wealth  and  welfare  can  be  secured  only  as  we  care  for  and  ed- 
ucate each  and  every  child. 

MR.  OGDEN — We  will  proceed  with  the  next  number  on  the 
program,  "The  Educational  Work  of  the  Club  Women  of  Geor- 
gia." by  Mrs.  Robert  Emory  Park,  Chairman  of  the  Educa- 
tion Department  of  the  Georgia  Federation. 

MRS.   PARK. 

After  hearing  Miss  Johnson's  inspiring  address  on  federa- 
tion work  in  general,  to  listen  to  an  account  of  work  in  Georgia 
—our  one  little  corner— is  like  watching  the  grand  parade  of 
an  army  and  afterwards  viewing  the  evolutions  of  a  squad. 

In  beginning  I  would  say  to  this  indulgent  audience  that  I 
am  perfectly  aware  that  facts  are  indigestible  and  "n'ggfis" 
soporific,  but  I  could  not  eliminate  them  altogether.  An  apol- 
ogy is  due  to  the  college  women  for  the  ungrammatical  way  in 
which  the  club  women  are  handled,  as  ''they7'  one  moment  and 
"we"  the  next.  A  socialist  would  take  no  offense  at  this,  for 
he  believes  that  "we  uns"  and  ''you  uns"  should  be  inter- 
changeable terms. 

Education  became  the  question  paramount  with  the  State 
Federation  of  Women's  Clubs  at  its  foundation.  Words  fail 
to  tell  how  they  rejoice  in  the  great  educational  awakening 
which  is  arousing  our  country  from  one  end  to  the  other.  Their 
first  circular,  issued  nearly  twelve  years  ago,  announced  their 
intention  to  work  for  the  establishment  of  kindergartens,  for 
better  trained  teachers,  for  better  schoolhouses.  for  a  compul- 
sory education  law.  for  local  taxation,  for  county  high  schools. 
for  circulating  libraries  and  for  the  founding  of  mother's  clubs 
or  women's  clubs  and  village  improvement  societies.  They  have 
adhered  pretty  closely  to  this  program.  Their  belief  tod.-iy 
concerning  the  educational  needs  of  country  schools  is  embodied 
in  the  formation  of  their  educational  committee  with  its  sub- 
committees, viz.:  kindergarten,  compulsory  education,  local  tax- 
ation, model  schools,  or  industrial  .'ducat ion  and  school  im- 


MRS.  PAKK.  145 

To  these  we  have  lately  added  the  students'  aid 
or  loan  fund  committee  and  the  gift  scholarship  committee. 
Both  of  these  committees  were  formed  to  assist  young  women 
to  train  themselves  for  the  profession  of  teaching,  and  thereby 
to  emphasize  our  belief  that  the  greatest  need  of  our  rural 
schools  today  is  well  trained  teachers.  We  propose  adding:  an- 
other committee  en  the  establishment  of  county  high  schools. 

The  educational  work  of  the  federation  may  be  divided  into 
three  classes:  school,  community  and  legislative  work.  X<> 
modern  definition  of  education  would  confine  it  to  academic 
instruction  merely. 

The  growth  of  the  free  kindergarten  system  has  been  most 
satisfactory,  and  its  incorporation  in  whole  or  in  part  into  the 
public  school  system  of  some  of  our  cities  has  proved  a  success. 
Our  State  Chniiman  of  Kindergartens,  Mrs.  Nellie  Peters  Black, 
of  Atlanta,  reported  at  our  last  State  convention  59  kinder- 
gartens in  C.eorgia.  over  l2.(H)()  pupils  and  7t>  teachers.  Three 
cities.  Augusta.  Columbus  and  Savannah,  have  incorporated  the 
kindergarten  into  their  common  school  system. 

IxnrsTRiAL  EDUCATION". 

That  the  women  of  the  federation  believe  in  industrial  edu- 
cation, and  that  it  can  be  grafted  directly  upon  the  common 
school  system  as  now  existent  in  our  rural  districts,  at  small  ex- 
pense, is  prove;'  by  the  fact  that  they  have  tried  to  show  their 
faith  by  their  works  by  educating  trained  teachers  and  by  es- 
tablishing model  schools.  For  six  or  eight  years  they  have  main- 
tained the  industrial  department,  including  domestic  science, 
in  four  of  these  schools,  and  another  is  just  completed,  at  a 
cost  of  $3,000.  on  our  property,  to  be  placed  like  the  others  un- 
der the  State  system.  If  experiments  have  not  measured  up 
to  high  ideals  they  have  been  most  encouraging.  In  season  and 
out  of  season  the  federation,  while  preaching  the  gospel  of 
beauty  and  art.  has  pleaded  for  practical  education,  "usable 
knowledge,''  a  reform  in  our  school  system  that  will  train  chil- 
dren for  life  and  the  duties  about  them.  Teach  the  child  to  do 
things,  for  the  king  is  the  man  who  can. 


146  CONFERENCE  FOB  EDUCATION. 

"Of  the  thirty-two  million  bread  Avinners  in  this  country, 
some  thirty  millions  must  work  with  their  hands.  The  great 
majority  of  children  in  school  today  must  become  bread  win- 
ners and  they  will  have  to  work  with  their  hands."  Is  not  the 
problem  of  education  then  largely  industrial  ?  Georgia  is  an  ag- 
ricultural State,  and  our  rural  schools  should  instill,  by  every 
means,  knowledge  of  agriculture,  love  for  agricultural  pursuits, 
and  the  freedom  and  independence  of  country  life,  and  above 
all,  respect  for  the  dignity  of  labor.  It  has  been  demonstrated 
that  agricultural  education  will  return  $1,000  for  every  dollar 
invested,  hence  the  practical  wisdom  of  agricultural  colleges, 
and  of  farmers  conferences  and  institutes.  Increased  earning 
power  is  true  of  every  form  of  industrial  education. 

SCHOOL  IMPROVEMENT. 

The  school  improvement  work  of  the  federation  is  under  the 
chairmanship  of  Mrs.  Walter  B.  Hill,  who  is  the  director  of  the 
State  school  improvement  work.  The  conference  for  farmers' 
wives,  which  met  at  the  State  Agricultural  College  at  Athens 
with  the  farmers'  conference  in  January,  was  called  and  con- 
ducted by  her  and  marks  a  new  era  for  the  farmers'  wives  in 
Georgia  and  the  South.  It  is  proposed  to  hold  these  confer- 
ences, as  far  as  possible,  all  over  the  State. 

The  education  of  the  community  includes  not  only  the  ef- 
forts for  betterment  of  rural  conditions,  by  means  of  traveling 
libraries,  school  and  home  improvement  clubs,  etc.,  but  socio- 
logical work  of  every  kind,  such  as  is  done  by  the  civic  improve- 
ment leagues,  by  the  committee  on  public  health  and  sanitation 
and  home  economics.  It  is  matter  of  public  knowledge  how 
effectual  in  removing  abuses  and  working  reforms  the  organ- 
ized efforts  and  agitation  of  the  club  women  of  the  country 
have  been.  The  immense  value  of  compact  organization  in 
spreading  any  propaganda  is  instanced  by  the  widespread  in- 
terest taken  by  the  women  in  the  forestry  movement  and  the 
fight  against  tuberculosis.  The  sixty-four  clubs  in  the  city 
federation  seem  to  be  animated  at  this  time  with  the  simple 
purpose  of  extirpating  the  white  plague.  The  club  woman — 


MRS.  PARK.  147 

"a  specialist  on  sociological  pathology"  — is  not  a  bad  defini- 
tion, although  perhaps  first  applied  in  derision.  The  study 
clubs  of  the  federation  form  a  post-graduate  school  for  grown- 
ups, so  to  speak,  in  which  much  earnest  study  is  pursued.  The 
busy  mother  and  the  "rushed"  society  women  find  here  their 
only  opportunity  for  culture  and  systematic  study.  The  library. 
the  people's  university,  is  their  constant  resort,  and  the  library 
is  a  great  schoolmaster.  And  here  let  me  say  that  the  Carnegie 
Library  is  the  very  crown  of  blessings  to  Atlanta.  Our  Library 
Committee,  Mrs.  E.  G.  McCabe,  Chairman,  has  sent  out  14,000 
books,  with  no  money  back  of  them,  in  two  years,  and  has  sup- 
plied thirteen  villages  with  libraries.  These  libraries  have  car- 
ried a  message  of  sympathy  and  cheer  from  the  city  woman 
to  her  sister  in  the  country — the  woman  with  the  churn  and 
the  frying  pan — and  alas!  too  often  "with  the  hoe." 

The  work  of  the  federation  in  drawing  out  and  stimulating 
the  intellectual  energy  of  the  mothers  is  educational  work  of 
infinite  value  not  only  to  their  children  but  to  society  at  large. 

(iiFT  SCHOLARSHIPS. 

For  years  the  different  clubs  have  been  giving  scholarships 
to  the  normal  schools  and  other  institutions,  in  addition  to  their 
steady  contribution  to  the  industrial  schools.  At  one  time  dur- 
ing a  period  of  three  years  the  clubs  gave  almost  $3,000  worth 
of  scholarships.  Since  putting  the  work  in  the  hands  of  a  com- 
mittee, in  November,  we  are  able  to  report  over  fifty  scholar- 
ships, in  the  regular  literary  course,  in  music,  art,  oratory  and 
in  business  schools.  The  latest  gift  scholarship  is  from  a  soror- 
ity of  twenty  young  women  in  Brenau  College.  Gainesville. 
Realizing  so  early  their  duty  to  others  what  a  power  for  good 
they  will  wield  in  Georgia  ! 

THE  STUDENTS'  AID  COMMITTEE. 

This  committee  was  formed,  a  few  months  ago,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  raising  a  loan  fund  to  assist  young  women  through  our 
normal  schools  or  through  college,  and  already  it  has  placed 
three  girls  in  school  and  the  fund  is  growing  apace.  It  has  been 


148  CONFERENCE  FOR  EDUCATION. 

interesting  to  watch  the  altruistic  growth  of  the  federation 
clubs;  how  one  by  one  they  have  abandoned  their  egotistic  de- 
sire to  benefit  themselves  alone,  and  have  grown  eager  to  help 
others  into  the  light  of  a  larger  life.  Almost  without  excep- 
tion they  contribute  to  the  educational  fund  of  the  federation. 

COMPULSORY  EDUCATION. 

For  several  years  we  have  labored  hard  to  create  public  sen- 
timent in  favor  of  compulsory  education,  and  for  the  last  two 
years  we  have  endeavored  to  obtain  legislative  action.  Our  bill 
was  reported  favorably  by  the  committees — only  one  member 
voting  against  it.  But  it  was  sidetracked  in  1907,  as  the  pro- 
hibition bill  had  the  right  of  way,  and  last  year  the  prison  re- 
form bill  and  convict  lease  question  blocked  all  other  legisla- 
tion. Several  counties  have  tried  a  local  bill,  and  we  believe 
that  the  State  generally,  convinced  that  a  compulsory  educa- 
tion law  is  the  natural  corollary  of  a  child  labor  bill,  and  that 
it  is  a  civic  sin  to  allow  children  to  grow  up  in  ignorance,  will 
demand  the  passage  of  this  compel-parents-to-do-their-duty  bill. 
The  local  tax  and  county  high  school  bills  will  follow.  The 
farmers  are  ready  for  them.  The  posters  in  big  black  head- 
lines, which  our  committee  has  sent  out,  remind  one  of  the  "scare 
them  to  death"  method. 

Today  the  reforms  we  have  hoped  for  and  worked  for  seem 
to  be  in  sight.  But  who  can  measure  the  patience  and  faith 
and  persistence  it  has  required  to  work  and  wait;  to  sit  down 
calmly  before  the  walls  of  opposition  and  prejudice  and  carry 
on  the  siege!  Sometimes  one  couldn't  help  longing  for  a  little 
dynamite.  But  then  disjecta  membra  would  not  make  soldiers, 
and  a  workman's  trowel  was  never  made  of  a  broken  brick.  "We 
are  convinced  that  "a  whirlwind  campaign,"  such  as  was  waged 
by  the  club  women  of  Kentucky,  is  better  than  dynamite. 

MR.  OGDEN— The  next  number  on  our  program  deals  with 
the  higher  education  of  women,  concerning  which  we  shall 
hear  from  Dean  Lida  Shaw  King,  Dean  of  the  "Woman's  Col- 
lege of  Brown  University. 


Miss  KING.  149 

Miss  KIXG. 
THE  HIGHER  EDUCATION  OF  WOMEN. 

Ladies  and  G<  nil<  men: 

I  wish  first  to  express  my  gratitude  at  being  invited  to  this 
Conference.  I  have  enjoyed  everything  that  has  been  said  and 
done.  I  have  always  read  with  interest  the  printed  reports  of 
these  conferences,  but  I  have  never  been  so  deeply  impressed 
with  the  zeal  and  the  wisdom  which  you  are  putting  into  the 
work  as  I  have  been  on  this  occasion  when  I  have  been  present 
in  pereon.  And  I  find  myself  not  a  little  envious  of  you.  Your 
opportunity  is  so  great,  your  work  covers  such  a  large  extent 
of  territory,  it  embraces  so  many  varieties  of  educational  work, 
and  there  are  so  many  difficulties  in  your  path.  I  fear  that  in 
the  North  we  sometimes  get  to  discussing  rather  trivial  points. 
For  example:  I  received  not  long  ago  a  letter  from  a  sister  col- 
lege which  asked  a  number  of  questions  concerning  the  college 
Avhere  I  am  working.  Two  of  these  are  indelibly  stamped  on 
my  memory:  "Do  you  allnw  your  students  to  go  out  after 
dark  without  a  chaperon.1"  and  "Are  the  sleeping  rooms  in 
your  dormitory  furnished  with  set  wash-basins.'"  Now  it  did 
not  seem  to  me  that  whether  the  Brown  women  were  on  the 
street  after  sundown  unchaperoned  or  whether  they  washed 
their  hands  in  set  basins  or  wash  howls  even  in  the  bathrooms 
that  their  course  of  action  in  the  matter  should  necessarily  set 
the  standard  for  college  students  elsewhere.  In  this  Confer- 
ence you  have  studied  large  problems  and  I  shall  go  back  to  my 
work  inspired  and  invigorated. 

I  believe  that  I  have  been  invited  here  today  to  speak  to 
you  of  that  college  of  liberal  arts  with  which  I  am  associated. 
It  is  called  the  Women's  College  in  Brown  University,  and  is 
situated  in  Providence.  R.  I.  Seventeen  years  ago  the  people 
of  Rhode  Island  were  confronted  with  this  problem.  Rhode 
Island  is  a  thickly  settled  district  of  New  England.  Providence, 
its  largest  city,  has  some  200,000  inhabitants,  and  about  it  are 
other  cities,  as  well  as  many  towns  and  villages.  But  in  this 
district  there  was  no  college  for  women.  It  was  felt  that  in  any 


150  CONFERENCE  FOR  EDUCATION'. 

large  community  there  must  be  many  young  women  who  are  cut 
off  from  a  college  education,  unless  there  is  a  local  college;  those 
who  cannot  afford  to  go  away  from  home  to  college;  those  who 
cannot  be  spared  from  home,  and  those  who  do  not  wish  to 
leave  home.  The  primary  function  of  the  city  college  is  to  ed- 
ucate the  stay-at-homes.  Then  there  is  also  another  class  of 
young  women  who  can  make  use  of  a  local  college.  They  also 
fall  under  the  general  class  of  stay-at-homes.  I  mean  those 
who  cannot  for  one  reason  or  another  take  a  full  college  course. 
There  is  the  girl  who  must  help  keep  house,  or  who  must  care 
for  an  invalid  in  the  family;  the  girl  who  is  not  very  strong, 
or  who  is  acting  as  secretary  for  her  father :  the  girl  who  wishes 
to  devote  most  of  her  time  to  music  or  painting,  or  to  the  social 
duties  which  the  position  of  her  family  demands.  These  young 
women  can  make  time  for  a  partial  course.  Now  this  class  is 
a  large  one  (in  one  of  our  women's  city  colleges  one-third  of 
its  students  are  drawn  from  this  class),  and  it  is  also  a  per- 
manent one,  and  to  my  mind  one  of  the  most  important  func- 
tions of  a  city  college  is  to  meet  this  demand  of  partial  stu- 
dents. If  it  does  not,  they  are  cut  off  from  any  college  influ- 
ence whatsoever.  The  admission  of  partial  students  has  not 
always  been  received  with  favor  by  our  colleges:  it  has  been 
felt  that  the  academic  atmosphere  of  a  college  is  better  when 
all  the  students  are  devoting  all  their  time  to  academic  work. 
This  point  of  view  must  be  respected,  and  yet  it  seems  to  me 
that  the  slight  diminution  of  academic  atmosphere,  caused  by 
the  presence  of  partial  students,  is  amply  compensated  for  by 
the  gain  to  those  students  themselves.  We  have  not  only  gone 
so  far  as  to  admit  to  the  class  of  specials  those  who  have  had 
a  full  college  preparatory  course,  but  also  we  permit  those 
graduates  of  preparatory  schools  who  have  done  excellent  work 
in  some  one  or  more  subjects  to  continue  those  subjects  in  col- 
lege. So  important  do  I  feel  this  function  of  the  city  college 
to  be  that  I  should  favor  the  admission  to  college  of  such  stu- 
dents as  have  completed  with  a  creditable  record  the  full  course 
in  any  secondary  school  of  good  standing.  In  view,  therefore, 
of  what  was  felt  to  be  a  probable  demand  for  a  college  on  the 


Miss  KING.  151 

part  of  the  community  the  AY  omen's  College  in  Brown  Univer- 
sity was  founded. 

Before  showing  how  large  the  demand  for  the  college  has 
been  I  will  describe  briefly  its  organization,  for  the  type  of 
college  of  which  it  is  an  example  may  prove  of  use  to  you  in 
building  up  the  colleges  of  liberal  arts  for  women  in  the  South. 

It  is  an  affiliated  college,  that  is,  it  belongs  to  that  small 
group  of  American  colleges,  which  have  this  in  common,  that 
they  have  been  attached  to  a  university  for  men.  In  so  far  as 
the  manner  of  attachment  is  concerned,  each  college  is  a  law 
unto  itself.  The  Women's  College  in  Brown  University  is  a 
department  of  the  university,  existing  under  its  supervision 
and  following  its  academic  policy,  employing  its  teaching  staff 
and  sharing  its  library  and  its  laboratories.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  college  is  socially  separate  from  the  university,  for  it  has 
its  own  campus,  recitation  building,  gymnasium  and  dormitory. 
Academically,  there  is  a  distinct  advantage  in  this  arrange- 
ment. The  young  college  begins  life  with  a  great  library,  thor- 
oughly equipped  laboratories,  with  a  large  and  well  known 
staff  of  teachers  and  has  the  prestige  of  being  connected  with 
an  institution  whose  position  is  already  established.  The  finan- 
cial advantage  is  also  obvious.  The  college  is  spared  the  vast 
expense  involved  in  maintaining  laboratories  and  a  library  and 
in  paying  full  salaries  for  instruction.  As  I  once  heard  your 
Prof.  Mitchell  say,  "Here  is  the  maximum  of  efficiency  with 
the  minimum' of  expenditure." 

Some  statistics  have  been  gathered  to  show  how  large  has 
been  the  demand  for  our  local  college,  and  I  may  mention  them 
because  they  emphasize  the  need  of  a  local  college  in  every 
thickly  settled  district  of  our  country.  These  statistics  were 
collected  two  years  ago  when  the  college  was  in  its  fourteenth 
year.  First,  they  show  that  eight  hundred  young  women  who 
lived  in  Providence  or  in  its  vicinity  have  studied  at  the  col- 
lege, three  hundred  had  graduated  from  it  and  about  eighty 
had  gone  from  it  into  the  graduate  department  of  the  Univer- 
sity. As  the  popular  college  in  the  female  mind  of  Rhode  Is- 
land is  the  college  situated  in  the  country  and  not  attached  to 


152  CONFERENCE    FOR     EDUCATION". 

a  university  where  men  are  Studying,  it  is  fair  to  assume  that 
all  of  these  local  students  could  not  have  had  a  college  educa- 
tion had  not  the  Women's  College  been  founded.  Second,  these 
statistics  reveal  this  valuable  information  as  to  the  proportion 
of  the  college  students  living  in  the  district  which  Brown  Uni- 
versity was  educating.  1  refer  to  the  women,  of  course,  not  to 
the  men.  It  was  discovered  that  the  local  college  is  graduating 
each  year  three  times  as  many  local  students  as  all  the  distant 
colleges  put  together,  and  that  its  proportion  of  nongraduates 
was  about  twice  as  many.  To  put  the  fact  in  another  way.  as 
a  very  large  proportion  of  our  local  students  live  at  home  in 
Rhode  Island,  the  stay-at-homes  who  graduate  from  college  are 
three  times  as  many  as  those  who  go  away  from  home  and  grad- 
uate. If  we  are  desirous  of  increasing  the  number  of  Ameri- 
can girls  who  go  to  colleges  of  liberal  arts,  there  is  no  more 
effective  way  than  by  providing  all  of  our  thickly  settled  dis- 
tricts with  a  woman's  college.  A  third  statistical  test  of  the 
influence  of  the  women's  college  wras  applied.  AVe  wished  to 
know  whether  the  college  was  drawing  students  from  any  towns 
and  villages  which  had  not  sent  girls  to  other  colleges,  that  is, 
whether  it  was  reaching  non-college-going  localities.  The  re- 
sult of  this  investigation  was  favorable.  Not  only  was  it  proved 
that  the  college  was  successful  in  this  respect  but  that  the  num- 
ber of  places  reached  by  it  and  not  reached  by  other  colleges 
was  thirty-nine,  over  -one-half  of  the  total  number  of  places 
which  have  sent  girls  to  college.  I  have  not  mentioned  these 
dry  statistics  simply  to  call  attention  to  what  my  own  college 
is  doing  but  to  use  it  as  an  illustration  of  what  we  may  expect 
any  local  college  in  a  crowded  section  to  accomplish,  thinking 
that  here  you  may  find  a  suggestion  for  your  own  work. 

Thus  convinced  that  our  college  has  a  mission  in  life  and 
one  which  no  other  college  can  do  for  it  we  are  trying  to  in- 
crease its  field  of  work.  In  Rhode  Island,  and  what  1  have  to 
say  is  true  to  a  larger  or  lesser  extent  of  all  parts  of  the  North, 
the  majority  of  the  young  women  who  go  to  college  are  there 
because  they  expect  to  be  teachers,  and  at  the  same  time,  re- 
alize that  all  the  larger  posts  are  reserved  for  the  college  grad- 


Miss  KING.  153 

nates.  Our  colleges  and  onr  best  high  schools  employ  only  the 
graduates  of  colleges  of  liberal  arts.  It  is  this  majority  of 
prospective  teachers  which  -rave  occasion  for  Barrettt  "Wendell's 
dyspeptic  remark  that  "The  chief  purpose  of  onr  women's  col- 
seems  to  be  to  turn  out  female  school  teachers  with  what 
look  like  dignified  and  valuable  degrees."  Now  the  young 
women  who  are  in  the  minority  in  onr  colleges  are  those  who 
intend  to  earn  their  jiving  in  some  other  way  than  in  teaching 
the  higher  grade  work,  or  who  do  not  expect  to  have  to  earn 
a  living.  The  young  women  who  intend  to  teach  grade  school 
work  or  teach  technical  subjects  or  to  be  secretaries  or  matrons 
of  institutions  or  to  till  positions  other  than  the  higher  teaching 
positions  of  liberal  subjects,  are  apt  to  take  a  short  cut  to  their 
profession  by  going  directly  from  the  high  school  to  the  normal, 
industrial,  or  technical  college,  while  the  young  women  of  leis- 
ure are  satisfied  with  a  high  school  or  private  school  education, 
occasionally  topped  off  with  a  winter  at  a  finishing  school  or  a 
summer  of  European  travel. 

It  is  these  two  classes  of  young  women  whom  we  are  aiming 
to  get  hold  of,  and  at  the  risk  of  being  extremely  prosaic.  I 
will  tell  you  of  two  of  our  methods.  The  following  method, 
aimed  to  reach  both  classes,  but  especially  the  former,  was  de- 
vised a  year  ago  by  the  Rhode  Island  Branch  of  the  Association 
of  Collegiate  Alumna-,  at  our  suggestion,  and  it  is  now  being 
carried  out  by  the  members  of  that  branch.  It  aims  to  come 
into  contact  with  the  seniors  in  the  high  schools  and  to  influ- 
ence them  to  decide  to  go  to  college.  There  are  four  lines  of 
attack.  A  scholarship  available  in  any  college  is  offered  cadi 
year  to  the  girl  who  passes  with  highest  marks  the  examina- 
tions set  by  the  College  Entrance  Board  of  New  England.  An 
additional  stimulus  is  offered  to  the  girls  in  the  country  high 
schools,  where  there  is  less  interest  in  college  going,  and  this 
takes  the  form  of  a  prize  of  money  awarded  for  the  best  essay 
on  "Why  a  Girl  Should  go  to  College."  College  women  are 
sent  out  to  the  different  schools  to  address  the  students  on 
"The  Advantages  of  a  College  Education."  Finally,  all  the 
senior  members  of  the  college  preparatory  departments  through- 


154  CONFERENCE  FOR  EDUCATION. 

out  the  State  are  invited  from  time  to  time  to  visit  the  univer- 
sity, where  they  are  entertained  by  college  graduates  and  un- 
dergraduates. This  last  line  of  work  was  adopted,  because  we 
felt  that  a  glimpse  of  college  life  might  sometimes  succeed  in 
determining  a  girl  to  go  to  college  when  more  intelligent  ap- 
peals might  fail.  This  movement  is  still  too  young  to  have 
proved  its  real  value,  but  those  results  obtained  are  encourag- 
ing. Fourteen  out  of  our  twenty-one  high  schools  have  ad- 
mitted the  speakers ;  one  hundred  and  twenty-eight  girls  ac- 
companied by  thirteen  teachers,  representing  nineteen  of  the 
twenty-one  schools  of  our  State,  visited  the  college  in  response 
to  the  last  invitation,  while  several  girls  entered  college  last  fall 
through  the  influence  of  this  movement.  This  method  of  arous- 
ing interest  in  college  going  is  both  simple  and  inexpensive  and 
may  be  used  in  any  section  of  our  country. 

The  second  method,  at  present  being  formulated  and  will 
be  tried  next  fall,  is  intended  to  reach  the  future  women  of  leis- 
ure. Those  courses  of  study  which  we  think  will  appeal  to  the 
young  women  of  this  class  will  be  advertised  in  the  daily  press 
and  printed  announcements  of  them  will  be  circulated.  Many 
women  who  are  interested  in  the  value  of  a  college  education 
will  be  appealed  to,  to  exert  a  personal  influence  to  arouse 
these  indifferents.  The  problem  of  how  to  reach  the  vast  num- 
ber of  young  women  who  are  to  be  women  of  leisure  is  one  of 
the  big  problems  which  our  colleges  are  facing.  At  present, 
there  is  in  this  class  a  great  mass  of  undeveloped  resources 
which  our  country  needs.  In  these  days,  when,  as  President 
Eliot  says,  "The  intellectual  mother  is  in  demand,''  when  there 
are  so  many  opportunities  for  our  women  to  lend  their  influ- 
ence, to  give  their  money  and  to  work  in  social,  philanthropic, 
educational  and  economic  lines,  and  such  need  of  workers  who 
think  clearly  and  judge  wisely,  and  who  know  something  of 
social  and  economic  principles,  when  there  are  so  many  relig- 
ions about  us  which  make  a  strong  appeal  to  human  nature, 
because  they  offer  a  cure  of  bodily  pain,  when  life  is  so  com- 
plex that  there  is  need  to  summon  every  inspirational  force 
to  our  aid,  when  we  are,  as  a  nation,  in  constant  danger  of  be- 


Miss  KING.  155 

coming  too  materialistic  and  forgetting  the  things  of  the  spirit, 
it  must  be  a  matter  of  regret  to  all  educators  that  so  many  of 
our  young  women  who  are  to  have  leisure  do  not  make  use  of 
the  opportunity,  which  colleges  provide  for  mental  training, 
for  learning  something  of  the  literatures  of  the  world,  of  eco- 
nomics and  sociology  and  the  constitutional  history  of  our  own 
country,  as  well  as  of  philosophy  and  religion,  all  studies  rarely 
taught  in  the  secondary  schools  and  if  so  in  an  elementary  way 
and  at  a  time  when  the  mind  is  less  mature  than  at  the  college 
age,  and  finally  for  the  inspiration  which  comes  from  contact 
with  clear  thinkers  and  many  fields  of  knowledge.  If  this 
problem  is  to  be  solved  the  city  college  with  its  partial  courses 
will  be  the  opening  wedge. 

In  concluding  my  remarks  on  the  city  college  for  women, 
let  me  say  that  I  believe  that  our  city  colleges  would  reach 
many  more  young  women  if  they  tried  harder  than  at  present 
to  develop  a  cultural  atmosphere  in  addition  to  that  of  the  class 
room.  This  is  not  an  easy  thing  to  do,  when  your  students  come 
to  college  at  all  hours  of  the  morning,  leave  it  at  any  time  in 
the  afternoon  and  are  never  there  at  night.  The  task  is  not 
made  any  simpler  by  the  fact  that  your  faculty,  always  one  of 
the  best  of  cultural  influences,  is  equally  elusive.  We  have  tried 
to  meet  the  problem  in  these  ways:  lectures  and  musicales  are 
given  at  hours  when  the  students  are  present:  chapel  services 
are  often  devoted  to  the  reading  of  good  literature  or  to  talks 
given  by  good  authorities  on  subjects  of  interest,  as  varied  as 
"The  Playground  Movement''  and  "The  Awakening  in  China;" 
an  opportunity  is  given  to  meet  the  graduates  and  friends  of 
the  college  by  a  series  of  social  functions:  every  new  student 
is  entrusted  to  an  alumna  who  acts  as  her  social  and  intellectual 
advisor,  and  finally,  the  dormitory  is  made  use  of.  Suggestions 
on  manners  and  dress  made  to  the  students  living  in  the  dor- 
mitory are  sure  to  be  discussed  afterwards  in  other  college 
groups:  hints  on  good  music  and  good  reading  are  handed  on 
to  the  nonresidents,  while  an  opinion  on  ethical  questions  ex- 
pressed by  the  head  of  the  house  could  not  be  kept  within  the 
bounds  of  the  dormitory,  if  an  attempt  were  made.  We  use  our 


156  CONFERENCE  FOR  EDUCATION. 

dormitory,  as  a  model  is  used,  to  indicate  to  all  the  standards 
of  living  which  we  mean  to  secure  and  which  we  wish  and  ex- 
pect all  to  follow.  Our  dormitory,  I  should  have  said,  is  in 
charge  of  a  woman  of  refinement  and  intellectual  interests  who 
personally  supervises  the  students  residing  in  it.  Criticisms 
are  afloat  because  our  colleges  do  not  exert  a  close  personal  su- 
pervision on  their  students.  This  lack  of  supervision  has  more 
than  once  been  given  to  me  as  a  reason  fcr  not  sending  a  girl 
to  college  and  for  sending  her  to  a  finishing  school.  Here  we 
shall  do  well  to  borrow  a  point  from  the  private  finishing  school. 

In  this  talk  I  have  attempted  to  give  you  an  idea  of  the  ex- 
periences of  a  young  and  small  Northern  college.  Its  claim  of 
interest  to  the  educator  is  that  it  is  working  at  the  problems  of 
a  city  college.  Since  my  connection  with  this  college  I  have 
become  impressed  with  the  important  place  which  the  college 
in  the  city  occupies  in  our  educational  system.  It  does  a  work 
which  cannot  be  accomplished  by  others,  and  so  it  is  indispens- 
able. Its  appeal  has  already  proved  itself  to  be  great,  and  there 
are  possibilities  before  it  of  increasing  that  appeal  by  perfect- 
ing its  facilities  and  by  stimulating  the  public  to  a  larger  col- 
lege interest.  A  city  college  has  also  othe'r  appeals  at  its  com- 
mand. The  atmosphere  is  sane  and  wholesome  and  free  from 
over-sentimentalism.  It  was  a  high  tribute  to  the  city  college, 
that  when  I  was  recently  asked.  "What  do  you  do  to  prevent 
hysteria  among  your  students,"  my  reply  could  honestly  be, 
"We  do  not  have  hysteria."  By  attending  a  college  in  the  city 
a  young  woman  need  not  make  a  sacrifice  of  the  home  influence. 
If  her  home  is  uncultured,  she  can  add  to  it  refinement  and  in- 
terest in  the  higher  things  of  life.  Thus,  service  to  one's  family, 
which  is  after  all  woman's  most  important  work,  need  not  be 
interrupted.  The  absence  of  a  girl  from  home  for  four  years, 
a  hardship  so  bravely  borne  at  present  by  many  parents,  yet 
none  the  less  a  hardship,  need  not  be  endured  if  there  is  a  sat- 
isfactorv  college  near  bv. 


MR.  COON.  157 

MR.  OGDEX — We  will  now  hear  from  Mr.  Charles  L.  Coon, 
of  North  Carolina,  who  will  talk  to  us  on  "Public  Taxation  and 
the  Xegro  School." 

MR.  COOK. 

PUBLIC  TAXATION  AND  NEGRO  SCHOOLS. 

I  shall  confine  this  paper  to  the  investigation  of  the  ques- 
tion. "7.s-  (Ji«  i«</ro  public  .<ch<n>l  in  tin  Smith  a  burden  oit  the 
wliitc  tti.riiti>/(  r.  and.  if  so.  to  icJmt  extentt"  For  the  purpose 
of  this  investigation  I  shall  include  the  eleven  Southern  States 
which,  in  1900.  contained  7.199.374  of  the  8,840,789  negrces 
then  living  in  the  United  States,  or  81.4' ,  of  the  negro  popu- 
lation of  the  country.  These  States  are  Virginia.  North  Caro- 
lina. South  Carolina,  (ieorina.  Florida.  Alabama,  Mississippi, 
Louisiana.  Texas.  Arkansas  and  Tennessee.  In  these  eleven 
States  the  total  population  in  1900  was  18,975,665,  of  which 
11,776.291  was  white  and  7,199,291,  or  41.1',  .  was  negro. 

First.  In  order  to  find  out  whether  the  negro  public  school 
is  a  burden  on  the  white  taxpayer  in  these  States  it  is  necessary, 
first  of  all,  to  ascertain  what  these  States  are  spending  for  pub- 
lic schools  IK  tli  white  and  colored.  The  latest  reports  of  the 
several  departments  <-f  education  indicate  that  these  eleven 
States  are  now  spending  about  $32.068,851  for  elementary  and 
secondary  education.  This  sum  represents  every  item  of  ex- 
pense. ;md  is  just  slightly  more  than  Pennsylvania  spends  an- 
nually for  the  same  purpose.  This  sum  is  $21.000,000  less  than 
New  York  State  spent  for  public  education  in  1907.  and  not 
quite  twice  as  much  as  Massachusetts  spent  in  1906.  The  wealth 
of  these  eleven  Southern  Stales  is  approximately  $12,000,000,000 
while  Xe\\  York  State  has  property  worth  $15.00;).<>00-.0u<).  Mas- 
sachusetts $.1.1  MX). 000. 000  and  Pennsylvania  $11.500.000.000. 

Second.  The  South  is  spending  $32.068.851  on  her  public 
schools,  both  white  and  black,  but  what  part  of  this  sum  is  de- 
voted to  negro  public  schools,  which  must  serve  at  least  40',' 
of  her  school  population  .'  It  is  not  possible  to  answer  this  ques- 
tion with  absolute  accuracy.  But  it  is  possible,  from  the  sev- 


158 


CONFERENCE  FOR  EDUCATION. 


era!  State  reports,  to  find  out  the  whole,  amount  spent  for  teach- 
ers, and,  in  all  the  Stales  except  Arkansas,  what  was  spent  for 
white  and  negro  teachers  separately.  The  aggregate  amount 
now  being  spent  for  public  school  teachers  of  both  races  in  these 
eleven  States  is  $23,856,914,  or  14A%  of  the  whole  amount  ex- 
pended. '  Of  this  sum  not  more  than  $3,818,705  was  paid  to 
negro  teachers,  or  129r  of  the  total  expenditures.  And  here  let 
me  call  your  attention  to  the  fact  that  nearly  three-fourths  of 
our  total  public  school  expenditures  are  for  teachers,  but  that 
negro  teachers  receive  only  129r  of  the  total  expended,  while 
white  teachers  receive  62.4%.  It  is  also  evident  that  the  amount, 
spent  for  negro  teachers  is  by  far  the  largest  item  of  expense 
of  the  negro  public  schools. 


EXPENDITURES  FOR  TEACHERS. 


STATE  AND  YEAR 

Total 
Expendi- 
ture 

Spent 
for 
Teachers 

Spent  for 
White 
Teachers 

Spent  for 
Negro 
Teachers 

Per  cent  spent  for 
White  Teachers 

Percent  spent  for 
Negro  Teachers 

Virginia  1907 

$  3,308,086 

$  2,151,209 

$  1,761,264 

$    389,  945 

53  2 

11  7 

North  Carolina  1908 

2,958,160 

1,688,057 

1,374,143 

313,914 

46.4 

10.6 

South  Carolina  1908 

1,595,986 

1,356,255 

1,102,094 

254,  161 

69.0 

16  0 

Georgia         1907 

2,850,211 

2,339,985 

1,819,321 

420,664 

63  8 

14  7 

Florida  1908 

1,584,043 

1,017,276 

864,  214 

153,062 

54.5 

9  6 

Alabama  1908 

2,195,325 

1,953,077 

1,712,898 

240,  179 

78.0 

10.9 

Mississippi  1907 

2,631,790 

1,984,758 

1,515,685 

469,073 

57.5 

17.7 

Louisiana  1907 

3,481,276 

2,006,885 

1,810,474 

196,411 

52.0 

5.6 

Texas  1906 

6,  344,  739 

5,  310,  289 

4,  527,  877 

782,412 

71.3 

12.3 

Arkansas  ....     1907 

2,  413,  768 

1,  973,  819 

1,784,519 

189,  300 

73.9 

7  8 

Tennessee  1907 

2,705,457 

2,175,304 

1,765,720 

409,584 

65  2 

15.2 

Total  

$32,068,851 

$23,856.914 

$20,038,209 

$3,  818,  705 

62.4 

12  0 

NOTE — In  the  Virginia  report,  the  amonnt  paid  negro  teachers  is  not  given,  but 
the  number  of  negro  teachers  and  their  average  salary  is  given.  In  the  Tennessee 
report,  the  average  salary  of  all  teachers  and  the  number  of  negro  teachers  are  given. 
The  amount  credited  to  negro  teachers  is,  therefore,  likely  too  large.  The  amount 
credited  to  negro  teachers  in  Arkansas  is  based  on  the  average  tuition  and  enrollment 
in  negro  schools.  The  average  tuition  is  likely  too  high  for  negro  schools.  In  all  cal- 
culations the  negro  teachers  are  credited  with  such  amounts  as  the  face  of  the  reports 
ndicates.  Investigation  would  undoubtedly  lower  the  figures  of  some  states 


MR.  Coo>7. 


159 


Third.  But  aside  from  the  expense  of  negro  teachers,  what 
is  the  additional  cast  of  the  negro  public  schools?  This  addi- 
tional cost  cannot  be  accurately  determined  from  the  data  now 
available.  But  South  Carolina.  Florida.  Alabama.  Mississippi 
and  Texas  —five  States— report  the  total  cost  of  negro  schools. 
For  these  States  the  additional  cost  of  negro  schools  above  the 
cost  of  teachers  is  as  follows:  South  Carolina.  1.3',  of  total 
expenditures:  Florida.  5.395  ;  Alabama.  1..V ;  :  Mississippi, 
4.2' ,  :  Texas.  ±2' ,  .  These  figures  indicate  that  between  two  and 
three  per  cent  of  the  total  expenditures  for  public  schools  in 
the  South  is  being  devoted  to  the  negro  schools  above  tin 
of  negro  teachers.  This  me-ms  that  about  $917.670  is  to  be 
added  to  the  cost  of  negro  teachers  to  get  the  entire  cost  of  the 
negro  public  schools  in  the  South.  The  aggregate  cost  of  the 
nc-iiro  public  schools  is.  therefore,  near  $4.736. 37.").  or  14> 
alt  expenditures. 

The  significance  of  these  figures  is  that,  while  the  negro  race 
has  at  least  40',  of  the  children  to  educate,  not  quite  15'',  of 
the  money  expended  on  public  education  is  being  devoted  to 
their  schools. 

TOTAL  COST  OF  NEGRO  SCHOOLS. 


STATE  AND  YEAR 

Speii  1  for  NPJJTO 
Teachers 

Spent  I'm 
Negroes  abmr 
Teachers 

C'ost  of  N'l'gTO 

Schools 

C'ost  of  Nejrro 
Teachers  in 
Per  C'ein 

Cost  of  Xeyro 
Schools  above 
Teachers  in 

Per  C'enl 

C'ost  of  NOJJTO 
Schools  in  Per 
Cent 

Pel  Tent  o! 
Netfro  Popu- 
lation 

Virginia.. 

1907 

$    389,945 

f  90,283 

$    489,228 

11  7 

3  0 

14  7 

35  7 

1908 

313.914 

88.744 

402,658 

10  6 

3  0 

13  6 

33  3 

South  Carolina  

1908 

254,lfcl 

20.  798 

274,  959 

16.0 

1  3 

17  3 

58  4 

Georgia 

1907 

420,664 

85,506 

H>6,  170 

14  7 

3  0 

17  7 

46  7 

Florida.            

1908 

153,062 

82,428 

235,490 

9.6 

5  3 

14.9 

43.7 

Alabama  ...          

1908 

240,179 

32,822 

273,001 

10  9 

1.5 

12  4 

45.3 

Mississippi. 

1907 

469,073 

107,890 

576,  963 

17  7 

4  2 

21  9 

58  7 

Louisiana  

1007 

196,411 

104,438 

~*>  i.  S4'> 

5  6 

3  0 

8.6 

47  2 

Texas                    

1906 

782,  412 

142.183 

924,  595 

12  3 

2  2 

14  5 

20  4 

Arkansas  

1907 

189,300 

72.414 

261,714 

7.8 

3.0 

10  8 

28.0 

Tennessee  

1907 

409,584 

81.1o4 

490,  748 

15  2 

3  0 

18.2 

23  8 

Total  

S3,  818,  705 

$917.  670 

•S4.  7>>>,37^ 

12  0 

2  8 

14  8 

4')  1 

160  CONFERENCE  FOR  EDUCATION. 

Fourth:  It  is  generally  assumed  in  the  discussion  of  the 
cost  of  the  negro  public  schools  that  the  white  race  bears  all 
the  cost  or  nearly  all;  that  the  negroes  of  the  South  are  truly 
tin-  white  man's  burden  when  it  conies  to  paying  the  bills  for 
public  education.  Much  of  this  unseasoned  talk  reminds  me  of 
the  Xorth  Carolina  fanner  who  was  in  the  habit  of  asserting 
on  all  occasions  that  he  could  live  and  get  ah  tig  so  much  better 
if  it  were  not  for  his  large  and  oppressive  doctor  bills.  But  the 
doctor  declared  at  the  next  term  of  the  court,  on  oath,  that  this 
chronic  complainer  had  not  paid  him  a  cent  in  fifteen  years  and 
that  he  was  the  only  doctor  in  the  community. 

And  this  brings  me  directly  to  the  main  inquiry :  Is  the 
negro,  public  school  of  the  South  a  burden  on  the  white  tax- 
payer? But  here  again  complete  data  with  which  to  work  can- 
not be  had.  However,  this  question  can  be  answered  for  Vir- 
ginia, Xorth  Carolina  and  (ieorgia  with  some  degree  of  accuracy. 

First:  Is  the  negro  public  school  of  Virginia  a  burden  on 
the  white  tax-payer  of  that  State?  The  State  Auditor  for  1!H>S 
reports  the  total  assessed  value  of  Virginia  property  at  $7<>2.- 
503.778,  divided  as  follows:  Listed  by  whites,  $521,612.627.  or 
74.3%  ;  listed  by  railroads  and  other  corporations,  $155.262,815, 
or  22.1%  ;  listed  by  negroes  .si>5.62S.:i26,  or  3.6'>.  Thus  it  will 
be  seen  that  the  State  of  Virginia  does  not  assess  22.1',  of  all 
its  property  as  either  white  or  black.  This  is  a  fact  worth  re- 
membering in  any  discussion  of  this  question. 

On  page  14,  advanced  sheets,  State  Superintendent's  Re- 
port, 1907,  it  is  said  that  Virginia  raised  for  public  schools 
during  that  year  the  sum  of  $3,473,048,  of  which  amount  $2.- 
855.871  was  raised  by  State  and  local  taxation,  while  $450,000 
was  directly  appropriated  to  the  schools  out  of  the  State  treas- 
ury. The  income  of  the  literary  fund  was  $00.127.  leaving  the 
sum  of  $107,050  raised  from  other  sources.  If  we  assume  that 
the  $450,000  directly  appropriated  to  the  schools  was  raised  by 
taxation  then  Virginia  raised  by  taxation  for  schools  in  l!M>7 
$3,305,871.  Bear  with  me,  then,  while  I  set  forth  what  I  con- 
ceive to  be  the  part  the  negro  should  have  of  this  school  fund, 
if  we  assume  that  it  is  to  be  divided  on  the  color  line  and  not 
on  the  basis  of  the  actual  needs  of  the  children  to  be  educated. 


MR.  COON.  161 

Second  :  Property  does  not  raise  all  this  Virginia,  school 
fund.  The  negroes  pay  something  like  $120,000  school  poll 
taxes,  after  deducting  insolvents  and  commissions.  It  is  fair 
to  assume  that  some  of  the  literary  fund  income  belongs  to  ne- 
groes, but  what  part .'  This  fund  is  neither  white  nor  black.  It 
w;,s  not  created  by  white  property.  The  negroes  constitute 
36 c/(  of  the  population  of  Virginia,  and  I  take  it  they  should 
bo  given  36'/<  of  the  income  of  the  literary  fund,  which -amounts 
to  $'21,649.  The  10  cents  State  school  tax  on  negro  property 
after  deducting  commissions  amounted  to  at  least  $22,500  more. 
The  10  cents  State  school  tax  on  the  $155,262,815  railroad  and 
other  corporation  property  would  not  all,  in  fairness,  belong 
to  the  white  children.  Not  many  of  us,  I  think,  would,  after 
the  last  few  years  of  agitation,  charge  the  railroads  and  other 
co!  po rations  with  being  altogether  white.  I  take  it,  therefore,  that, 
36%  ( f  the  proceeds  of  the  10  cents  State  school  tax  Virginia 
levies  should  be  given  the  negro  schools.  This  would  add  about 
$50,000  more  to  the  negro  school  fund. 

Now  we  must  consider  the  $1,913.760  raised  by  Virginia 
cities,  counties  and  districts.  If  this  sum  was  all  raised  by  prop- 
erty taxation,  and  we  shall  so  assume,  then  3.6'/£  of  it  was  raised 
on  negro  property.  22.1',  on  corporation  property  and  the  re- 
mainder on  white  property.  The  3.6',  raised  locally  on  negro 
property  would  add  $68.895  more  to  the  negro  school  fund. 
Then  we  shall  have  to  add  $152,259  more  to  the  account  from 
the  corporation  property  taxed  locally  or  36 %  of  the  total 
amount  raised  on  that -kind  of  property. 

Finally,  if  the  $450,000  directly  appropriated  to  the  schools 
was  raised  by  taxation,  then  3.6'/,  of  that  sum  belongs  to  the 
negroes'  school  fund:  also  36l/r  of  22.1  f/f  of  this  $450,000  raised 
on  railroads  and  other  corporation  property.  These  two  items 
will  add  $16,200  and  $35,802  respectively  to  the  negroes'  part 
of  the  school  fund  of  Virginia,  not  taking  into  account  the  bal- 
ance from  1906  or  the  fund  from  other  sources. 

Summarizing,  the  negroes'  part  of  the  school  fund  raised  in 
1907  will  stand  as  follows: 

6 


162  CONFERENCE  FOR   EDUCATION. 

From    poll    tax $120,000  00 

From    literary    fund 21,649  00 

From  State  corporation  tax 50  000  00 

From  State  tax  on  negro  property 22,500  00 

From  local  tax  on  negro  property 68,895  00 

From   local   tax  on   corporation   property 152,259  00 

From   3.6%   direct  State  appropriation 16,200  00 

From  36%  of  221%  direct  State  appropriation,  corporations.  35.802  00 


Total    due    to    negroes $507.305  00 


I  have  shown  before  that  Virginia  is  spending  only  about 
$489,228  on  her  negro  schools.  If  my  figures  are  correct,  then 
$18,077  of  the  amount  which  should  be  devoted  to  their  schools, 
if  we  assume  the  race  division  of  the  funds,  docs  not  reach  the 
negro  schools  of  Virginia.  I  assume  that  the  negroes'  par!  <  f 
the  balance  from  1906  and  their  part  of  the  fund  from  other 
sources  will  cancel  any  balance  carried  over  from  1907  to  1908 
so  far  as  the  negro  fund  is  concerned. 

.    Second:     Is   the  negro  public  school   of   North   Carolina    a 
burden  on  the  white  tax-payer  cf  that  state.' 

(a)  The  total  assessed  value  of  all  property  in  North  Car- 
olina is  $593,485,331,   divided   as   follows:     Listed   by    whiles, 
$440,669,472;  listed  by  negroes,  $21,716.922,  or  3.7',  :  corpora- 
tions, $111,098.937,  or  19.:]' ,  . 

(b)  The  State  Superintendent   reports  for  1908  the  school 
fund  as  follows : 

Balance   from    1907 $  413,214  63 

Local    taxes     050,739  40 

Literary    fund    ] 00,5:54  <"> 

Bonds    and    loans 208,018  5G 

Fines,    polls,    licenses 631,007  00 

State   fund    I,o4r.,2t;:;  lo 

State  appropriation    198,547  oo 

Other    sources    .                    46,90711 


Total $3,294,231  70 


(c)      If  this  fund  had  been  divided  on  the  race  basis  1  think 
a  fair  division  would  be  as  follows : 


MR.  COON.  163 

33  1-3%   of  19.3%   of  $650,740.   local   tax $  41,864* 

33  1-3%  of  literary  fund  of  $100,534 33,511 

3.7%    of  $19j.548.   State  appropriations 7,346** 

33-13%  of  19.3%  of  $198.548,  State  appropriation 12,773* 

33-13%   of  $254.834   licenses  and   fines 84,834 

Poll    taxes    actually    paid 80,000 

of  31.045. 2<13 38,675** 

33  1-3%    of   19.3%    of   $1.045. 203 67,245* 

3.7%   of  $413,215.  balance   1907 15,289** 

33  1-3<7C  of  19.3%  of  $413,215,  balance  1907 26,583* 

3.7%    of   $208,018.    bonds 7,696** 

33  1-3%   of  19.3%   of   $208.018,   bonds 13,381* 


Total    due    to    negroes $429,197 


I  have  shown  before  that  North  Carolina  is  likely  spending 
only  s-k'-J. »;.>  ..n  her  negro  schools.  This  leaves  $26,539  of  the 
North  Carolina  fund  which  never  reached  the  negro  in  1908. 
But.  it  may  be  objected,  there  is  no  account  taken  in  this  cal- 
culation <  f  the  balance  carried  over  from  1908  to  1909.  It  may 
be  further  objected  that  this  calculation  takes  no  account  of  the 
fact  that  local  taxrs  -\r<-  not  levied  on  all  property  of  the  State 
under  consideration,  but  only  on  the  property  of  certain  com- 
munities: also,  that  local  taxes  are  derived  from  polls  as  well 
as  pr<  petty.  But  tl;<-  sa  of  the  amount  calculated  as  due 

negroes  in  North  Carolina  will  nearly  provide  for  the  balance 
in  question.  Local  taxes  are  generally  levied  in  the  richer 
communities  and  there  n  .vn  more  property  and  there 

is  more  corporation  property  than  in  the  poorer  communities.  It 
will  hardly  make  much  difference  in  the  final  result  if  the  actual 
facts  were  in  hand  and  the  calculation  made  from  them.  A.- 
to  the  local  poll  taxes,  there  is  no  injustice  done  in  these  calcu- 
lations when  it  is  remembered  that  the  local  taxes  are  all  con- 
sidered as  raised  on  property.  The  thing  to  remember  here  is 
that  the  funds  are  not  all  put  in  a  common  treasury  and  dis- 
tributed. My  calculations  are  made  as  if  such  were  the  case. 
The  practical  result  of  such  not  being  the  case  would  be  that 
the  funds  for  negroes  in  this  State  would  be  largely  increased 


Corporation   property. 
**Xegro  property. 


164  CONFERENCE  FOR  EDUCATION. 

in  many  communities  and  reduced  in  others.  Hence  I  conclude 
that  the  negro  school  is  likely  not  a  burden  on  the  white  tax- 
payer of  North  Carolina. 

Third:     Finally,    is   the    negro   public  school    of   Georgia   a 
burden  on  the  white  tax-payer  of  that  State  ? 

(a)  The  total  assessed  value  of  all  property  in  Georgia   is 
$699,536,879  divided  as  follows:     White,  $540,073.885:  negro, 
$25,904,822,  or  3.7%;  corporation  $123,588,172,  or  19.1%. 

(b)  On  page  397  of  the  State  Superintendent's  Report  for 
1907  the  following  is  set  forth  as  the  school  fund  that  year: 

Balance,  1906    $    180,190  33 

State   appropriation    1,744,461  47 

Convicts     199,659  71 

Local  taxes    750,577  59 

Other    sources    .  136,789  36 


Total $3,011,678  46 


•    On  page  8,  Comptroller's   Report.   !!)()*.  the  sources  of  the 
}- tate  school  appropriation  are  given  as  follows: 

Poll   tax    $    275,000  00 

Liquor    242,000  00 

Fertilizer     21,000  00 

Oil     1  ,()00  00 

Shows     !U;iG  00 

Georgia   Railroad 2,046  00 

W.  &  A.  Railroad -. 210,000  00 

Prison    farm    16,639  71 

School    lands    8,680  62 

Property  tax   1,000,000  00 


Total $1,786,588  33 


(c)  It  will  be  observed  that  $4-_).lL)(i.S(i  of  the  Stale  fund 
is  not  accounted  for  in  the  State  Superintendent's  Report.  But 
this  small  item  may  be  overlooked  IVr  the  present.  I  think  a 
fair  division  of  the  school  funds  of  (iet  rgia  for  1907  would  he 
the  following: 


MR.  COON.  165 

Negro  poll  tax    $111,898  00 

46.7%  of  income  W.  &  A.  Railroad 98,072  76 

46.7%  of  income   from   liquor 113,014  00 

46.7%  of   income   from   fertilizer 9,807  00 

46.7%  of  income   from   oil 747  20 

46.7%  of    income    from    shows 4,481  67 

46.7%  of  income   from   Georgia   Railroad 955  48 

46.7%  of  income  from  prison  farm 7,770  88 

46.7%  of  income  from  school  lands 4,053  56 

15c.  tax  on  $25,904,822,  negro  property 38,857  23 

46.7%  income  15c.  tax  $123,588,172,  corporation  property.  .  86,552  50 

46.7%    income    from    convicts 93,241  22 

3.7%   of  $887,367   local  tax,  etc 32,832  58* 

46.7%  of  19.1%  of  local  tax,  etc 45,568  46** 


Total  due  to  negroes $647,852  54 


I  have  shown  above  that  negroes  actually  received  about 
$506.170  of  the  Georgia  school  fund  of  1907.  This  leaves  $141.- 
682.54  to  the  credit  of  the  negro  fund  upon  any  fair  race  divis- 
ion. If  we  count  tlie  $42.126.82  not  accounted  for  in  the  school 
report  and  the  negroes'  part  of  the  balance  carried  over  to 
1908,  and  also  the  neuroes'  part  of  the  balance  due  them  from 
1906,  we  shall  still  have  a  comfortable  sum  over  and  above  the 
actual  expenditures  made  for  negro  schools  by  (ioorgia  in  1907. 
Therefore  I  think  the  negro  schcols  cf  Georgia  are  not  a  burden 
on  white  tax-payers. 

I  do  not  wish  it  understood,  however,  that  I  favor  any  such 
race  division  of  the  public  school  funds  as  I  have  suggested 
above.  My  object  is  to  show,  first  of  all,  that,  upon  any  fair 
division  of  the  present  school  funds  of  the  three  States  under 
consideration,  the  negro  would  likely  fare  as  well  as  he  dees  at 
present.  In  the  absence  of  such  division  I  am  confident,  whether 
my  figures  are  absolutely  accurate  or  not.  that  any  one  who 
takes  the  pains  to  ascertain  the  present  sources  of  the  public 
school  funds  of  these  States  and  then  tries  to  make  a  fair  divis- 
ion of  them  between  the  races  will  come  to  the  conclusion  that 
the  nesro  school  is  not  verv  much  of  a  white  man's  burden  in 


*Negro  property. 
**Corporation   property. 


166  ('OXFEKKXCE    FOR    EDUCATION. 

at  least  three  States,  unless  the  white  man  is  ready  to  say  that 
the  division  I  suggest  is  not  a  fair  one.  And,  in  view  of  the 
facts  set  forth  for  these  three  States,  will  the  white  man  be  able 
to  maintain  successfully  that  he  pays  nearly  all  the  cost  of  the 
negro  public  schools  in  these  States? 

Time  is  not  at  hand  to  make  a  detailed  study  of  this  ques- 
tion for  all  the  eleven  States  under  consideration.  What  is 
true  of  the  school  funds  of  the  three  States  considered  above 
is  probably  true  of  all  the  others.  A  somewhat  careful  study 
of  this  question  for  several  years  leads  me  to  the  conclusion 
that  the  negro  school  of  the  South  is  no  serious  burden  on  the 
white  tax-payer.  The  same  conclusion  will  be  reached  if  the 
subject  is  approached  from  another  standpoint.  Suppose  the 
negro  children  of  these  States  all  white.  Then  it  will  be  found 
that  it  would  cost  to  educate  the  present  negro  school  popula- 
tion, on  the  basis  they  were  all  white,  just  about  five  times  as 
much  as  it  does  now  to  give  the  same  number  of  negroes  such 
education  as  they  are  getting.  You  will  observe  that  we  always 
count  the  negroes  in  as  a  part  of  our  population,  when  we  tell 
the  world  of  our  progress  in  material  things. 

In  this  connection  I  wish  to  call  your  attention  to  the  com- 
ment of  two  leading  Southern  papers  on  the  recent  exodus  of 
negroes  from  Southern  Mississippi  and  Northern  Louisiana  to 
the  Yazoo  Delta.  The  Chattanooga  Times  said: 

There  is  no  doubt  about  the  alarm  and  distress  felt  among  our 
farmers  and  planters  01'  Southern  Mississippi  and  Northern  Louisiana 
over  the  recent  exodus  of  negroes  to  the  Delta  region  of  Mississippi, 
where  it  appears  very  attractive  inducements  have  been  held  out  to 
them.  We  will  probably  never  fully  appreciate  the  value  of  the  negro 
as  the  dependable  labor  of  this  section  until  we  lose  him,  and  if  we 
would  learn  this  lesson  from  the  situation  in  lower  Mississippi  and 
Louisiana  we  will  make  up  our  mind  that  we  are  not  going  to  lose  him. 

On  the  same  subject  the  Charlotte  Observer  of  January  17, 
1909,  said : 

It  is  a  singular  fact  that  those  who  profess  most  antagonism  to- 
ward the  negro  and  most  desire  to  get  rid  of  him  are  often  the  very 
ones  who  raise  the  loudest  howl  when  the  negro  begins  departing  of 
his  own  accord.  Let  a  labor  agent  undertake  to  move  negroes  from 


MR.  COON.  167 

one  State  to  another  and  he  encounters  rigid  prohibitory  laws  backed 
up  by  strong  public  sentiment.  Against  similar  activities  within  the 
bounds  of  States,  laws  forbidding  enticement  of  labor  are  uncompro- 
misingly enforced.  It  is  not  merely  that  no  one  can  be  found  imme- 
diately at  hand  to  take  the  negro's  place,  for  in  very  many  cases  those 
most  feelingly  bent  (as  shown  by  deeds)  upon  keeping  the  negro 
will  be  opposing  all  steps  for  the  furtherance  of  white  immigration 
from  without.  They  want  a  hired  man  who,  if  he  becomes  a  com- 
petitor at  all,  does  not  make  a  competitor  of  formidable  efficiency. 
Complaints  against  the  negro  as  a  burden  and  a  curse  are  forgotten 
in  louder  complaints  of  another  sort  whenever  any  one  attempts  to 
lure  him  away. 

Talk  about  deporting  the  negro  to  Africa  or  colonizing  him  apart 
in  this  country!  There  would  be  almost  another  Southern  Confed- 
eracy to  fight  if  anything  of  the  sort  were  attempted.  The  negro  is 
here  to  stay  and  no  men  in  their  hearts  recognize  the  fact  more  fully 
or  regard  it  more  complacently  than  the  men  who  with  their  lips  are 
continually  abusing  him. 

In  1891  the  negroes  of  North  Carolina  listed  $8,018,446 
worth  of  property.  In  1908  they  listed  $21,716,922,  or  171% 
increase  in  seventeen  years.  The  property  listed  by  whites  in- 
creased only  S!V  r  during  this  same  period.  In  other  words, 
negro  property  increased  nearly  twice  in  proportion  to  white 
property  dnrinu1  these  seventeen  years.  In  Georgia,  in  1891, 
negroes  listed  $14,196.735;  in  1907  they  listed  $25,904,822,  an 
increase  of  S'2' ,  .  AYhite  property  during  the  same  period  in- 
creased 39l/t  .  This  indicated  that  the  ratio  of  increase  for  ne- 
gro property  in  Georgia  during  the  last  sixteen  years  has  main- 
tained a  rate  of  increr.se  more  than  twice  that  of  white  prop- 
erty. 

Such  facts  give  us  glimpses  of  the  economic  importance  of 
the  negro  and  abundantly  justify  us  in  hoping  that  the  sense- 
less race  prejudice  which  has  for  its  object  the  intellectual  en- 
slavement of  negro  children  will  soon  pass  away.  I  do  not  be- 
lieve that  any  superior  race  can  hope  for  the  blessings  of  heaven 
on  its  own  children  while  it  begrudges  more  light  and  efficiency 
for  those  of  an  inferior  race. 


168  CONFERENCE  FOR  EDUCATION. 


FIFTH   SESSION, 
FRIDAY  EVENING,  APRIL  16,  1909. 


MR.  OGOEX— "We  are  very  much  favored  tonight  with  a  large 
delegation  of  the  pupils  from  the  Girls'  High  School  who  are 
proficient  in  music,  and  they  are  here  to  assist  in  the  program 
of  the  evening,  which  will  begin  by  the  rendering  of  some  na- 
tional airs  by  this  great  chorus  of  these  pupils  from  the  Girls' 
High  School.  (National  airs.) 

THE  MAYOR. 

Mr.  President,  Ladies  and  (it  >itl<  tin  n: 

I  am  sure  that  you  all  enjoy. -d  very  much  the  song  just  ren- 
dered by  the  girls  from  the  Girls'  High  School.  I  wish  to  speak 
for  a  moment  or  two  for  the  boys  of  the  Boys'  High  School  who 
sing  daily  another  song  just  across  the  street,  but  it  is  the  song 
of  the  hammer,  the  saw  and  the  anvil.  Perhaps  many  of  you 
who  are  citizens  of  Atlanta  do  not  know  that  one  of  the  most 
progressive  features  of  our  public  school  system  was  the  in- 
auguration a  few  years  ago  of  the  technical  school  in  the  Boys' 
High  School.  This  was  one  of  the  first  schools  of  its  kind  in- 
augurated in  the  South.  It  now  has  an  attendance  of  about 
150  boys.  You  also  do  not  know,  I  am  sure,  the  very  cramped 
condition  under  which  these  splendid  young  men  are  working. 
A  few  days  ago  the  boys  conceived  the  idea  of  rendering  in 
some  small  way  a  token  of  their  interest  in  this  splendid  gath- 
ering, and  one  of  them  siiggested  he  would  like  to  make  for 
the  President  a  gavel  in  token  of  appreciation.  They  regret 
that  time  prevented  making  a  more  elaborate  one.  but  in  the 
short  time  they  made  this  simple  little  snivel.  It  was  made  by 
a  youth  15  years  of  age  in  the  first  year  in  the  technical  school. 
"We  appreciate  your  coming  to  this  city.  We  have  a  student 
body  of  approximately  250.000.  "We  have  more  than  50  schools 


THE  MAYOR.  169 

and  colleges  in  and  about  this  city.  We  are  constantly  increas- 
ing our  school  facilities,  and  we  are  now  contemplating  the  issue 
of  more  than  half  a  million  dollars  of  bonds  for  the  develop- 
ment of  this  splendid  system. 

I  take  pleasure.  Mr.  Ogden.  in  presenting  to  you  in  the  name 
of  the  Boys'  High  School  this  gavel.  We  are  glad  you  have 
come  here:  we  appreciate  the  attendance  of  this  splendid  body 
of  people  who  are  so  interested  in  behalf  of  the  South.  You  are 
always  welcome  here.  AYhen  you  leave  we  shall  look  forward 
with  pleasure  to  the  day  when  you  shall  call  this  Conference 
to  order  again  in  our  city. 

MR.  OGDEX — We  have  been  saying  "thank  you"  ever  since 
we  arrived  with  an  earnestness  and  sincerity  that  I  find  im- 
possible to  express  in  language.  \Ye  have  constantly  received 
additional  acts  of  courtesy  on  the  part  of  the  committee  and  of 
the  citizens.  I  have  a  feeling  of  great  lack  of  dignity  of  my 
office.  I  have  felt  that  the  use  of  my  hands  in  the  effort  to 
preserve  order  at  certain  times  would  soon  make  me  a  horny 
handed  son  of  toil.  I  accept  this  gavel  as  an  expression  of  kind- 
ness from  the  lad  who  made  it :  from  the  institution  he  repre- 
sents; from  the  whole  public  educational  system  of  the  city  of 
Atlanta,  and  from  all  the  people  of  Atlanta.  I  shall  carry  it 
away  with  me:  I  shal1  bring  it  back  if  my  life  shall  be  preserved, 
and  will  then  make  it  tell  in  the  purpose  for  which  it  was  created. 
(Dixie.) 

And  now  having  been  inspired  by  the  truly  national  spirit 
we  are  ready  to  proceed  with  the  exercises  of  the  evening.  First 
we  will  have  a  very  brief  report  from  the  Committee  on  Reso- 
lutions. 

RESOLUTIONS  or  THE  CONFERENCE  FOR  EDUCA- 
TION IN  THE  SOUTH. 

Resolved.  That  the  Conference  for  Education  in  the  South 
recommends  for  special  attention  in  the  work  of  the  immediate 
future : 

1.  Improvement  in  county  supervision  as  the  strategic  point 
in  the  entire  educational  svstem. 


170  CONFERENCE  FOR  EDUCATION. 

2.  The  professional  training  of  teachers  to  meet  the  just 
demand  for  more  efficient  service,  and  especially  the  strengthen- 
ing of  the  department  of  education  in  the  higher  institutions 
for  the  training  of  men  as  teachers  and  principals  of  high  schools 
and  as  superintendents. 

3.  The  extension  of  local  school  improvement  leagues  to 
every  community  in  the  South  and  the  earnest  effort  to  place 
this  work  in  Spring  upon  a  self-supporting  basis. 

4.  Continued  efforts  in  behalf  of  compulsory  education  in 
such  a  manner  as  may  be  deemed  wise  in  each  State. 

5.  We  recognize  with  delight  the  increase  in  dignity  and 
power  of  the  office  of  State  Superintendent  of  Education,  which 
is  attracting  the  strongest  men  among  us,  and  the  growing  rec- 
ognition of  these  leaders  as  the  real  shepherds  of  the  people. 

6.  The  National  Bureau  of  Education  at  Washington  has 
made  such  use  of  its  limited  resources  as  has  rendered  it  a  val- 
ued reinforcement  of  every  good  educational  movement  through- 
out the  land.    We  are  glad  to  note  that  Congress  has  begun  to 
make  a  distinct  increase  in  the  appropriations  for  this  office. 
Such  increase  as  has  hitherto  been  made  is,  however,  wholly  in- 
adequate to  the  needs  of  the  office  and  painfully  disproportion- 
ate to  the  importance  of  the  interest  which  it  serves.     We  re- 
spectfully urge  upon  Congress  that  it  undertake  without  further 
delay  the  placing  of  this  bureau  upon  such  a  plane  of  efficiency 
as  will  enable  it  to  render  in  full  the  service  which  the  States 
represented  in  this  Conference  require  and  expect  from  such 
a  federal  office. 

The  Conference  for  Education  in  the  South  desires  to  ex- 
press its  sincere  gratitude  to  the  Governor  of  Georgia  and  to 
the  citizens  of  Atlanta  for  their  gracious  hospitality.  Both  as  a 
Conference  and  as  individuals  we  are  under  lasting  obligation 
to  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  of  Atlanta,  the  various  clubs  and 
municipal  organizations,  the  homes,  the  institutions  of  learn- 
ing, the  press,  the  hotels  and  railroads  for  their  unfailing  kind- 


RESOLUTIONS.  171 

ness  in  every  way  that  could  contribute  either  to  our  personal 
enjoyment  or  the  furtherance  of  the  great  cause  of  education 
in  our  democracy.  Atlanta  has  an  enduring  place  in  the  annals 
of  educational  progress  in  the  South. 

MR.  OGDEX  —  It  is  a  matter  of  regret  that  President  Alder- 
man of  the  rniversity  of  Virginia  is  detained  from  filling  his 
place  upon  the  platform  by  reason  of  serious  duties  that  have 
arisen  in  his  univiM-sity.  and  he  has  been  obliged  to  telegraph 
to  us  that  he  could  not  get  here  for  tonight.  So  we  have  changed 
the  last  number  of  the  morning  session  to  the  opening  of  the 
evening  session,  and  we  will  first  hear  from  Dr.  Caswell  Ellis, 
of  the  University  of  Texas,  upon  the  subject,  "Education  and 
Economic  D  evelopment . ' ' 

DR.  ELLIS. 
EDUCATION  AND  ECONOMIC  DEVELOPMENT. 

AY  hen  invited  to  present  this  discussion  of  Relation  of  Edu- 
cation to  Economic  Advance  I  was  informed  that  my  paper  was 
not  intended  primarily  for  the  audience  before  which  it  was 
to  be  read,  for  you  do  not  need  to  be  shown  that  all  advances  in 
industrial  processes  are  bused  upon  the  results  of  scientific  study. 
It  was  suggested  that  I  attempt  to  present  such  concrete  and 
definite  facts  as  would  be  understood  by,  and  would  appeal  to, 
the  vast  body  of  citizens  and  legislators  who  wish  to  know 
whether  the  money  spent  on  education  yields  due  financial  re- 
turns to  the  State.  It  does  not  therefore  suffice  to  state  attract- 
ively in  general  terms  that  all  improvements  in  agricultural 
process  are  based  on  the  studies  of  botany,  zoology,  physiology, 
chemistry  and  physics  and  that  all  development  of  machinery, 
all  applications  of  electricity  and  steam,  all  manufacturing  and 
mining  processes,  and  all  modern  methods  of  transportation 
are  based  on  a  knowledge  of  physics,  chemistry,  mathematics, 
geology,  etc. 

If  education  does  all  these  things,  and  brings  such  large 
financial  returns,  then  it  outrht  to  be  easv  to  lav  hands  on  defi- 


172  CONFERENCE  FOR  EDUCATION. 

nite  concrete  illustrations  which  come  within  the  comprehen- 
sion of  the  men  on  the  street  and  farm  whom  we  are  now  urging 
to  make  a  larger  investment  in  education.  Indeed  the  man  in 
the  street  has  a  right  to  such  definite  information  and  it  is 
easy  to  give.  Here  are  a  few  examples. 

The  State  of  Illinois  invests  $250,000  in  university  investi- 
gation in  the  field  of  agriculture.  By  means  of  careful  and  in- 
telligent application  of  the  laws  of  botany  and  principles  of 
heredity  Prof.  Hopkins  and  his  colleagues  in  the  university 
developed  a  new  variety  of  corn  and  a  new  method  of  cultiva- 
tion especially  adapted  to  the  conditions  of  that  State.  This 
seed  has  been  distributed  and  this  nffw  method  taught  to  the 
farmers,  and  these  are  now  in  use  all  over  the  State,  with  the 
result  that  the  average  corn  yield  in  Illinois  has  been  increased 
five  bushels  per  acre,  or  a  total  increase  for  the  entire  State  of 
45,000,000  bushels  per  year.  This  same  university  has  carried 
out  carefully  planned  feeding  experiments  on  cattle  with  the 
result  that  a  balanced  ration  has  been  found  that  gives  the  same 
results  at  one-fourth  less  cost  than  the  common  system  of  feeding 
that  was  formerly  practiced  by  cattlemen.  Omitting  the  dozen 
other  similar  services  rendered  to  the  State  by  this  university 
we  see  that  it  returns  in  wealth  to  the  State  each  year  more 
than  fifty  timas  the  $250,000  spent  in  agricultural  education. 

Prof.  Montgomery  has  done  a  similar  work  for  the  corn 
farmers  of  Nebraska.  Prof.  Holden  in  the  Iowa  Agricultural 
College  noticed  the  enormous  losses  in  corn  each  year  in  Iowa 
from  imperfect  stand  in  the  corn  crop  due  to  planting  seed  of 
impaired  vitality.  He  devised  a  simple  and  inexpensive  method 
of  testing  the  vitality  and  growing  strength  of  seed  corn  before 
planting  it.  By  university  lectures,  by  bulletins,  by  newspaper 
articles,  by  institute  lectures  and  by  actual  demonstrations  made 
in  a  specially  fitted  up  lecture  car  that  was  run  all  through  the 
State,  he  taugh  this  method  of  seed  testing  to  the  farmers  of 
the  State,  who  used  it  with  the  result  that  all  seed  of  inferior 
vitality  were  discovered  and  thrown  out  before  planting,  and 
the  corn  crop  of  Iowa  was  increased  over  5,000,000  bushels  per 
year.  This  alone  returned  to  the  State  more  than  ten  times  the 


DR.  ELLIS.  173 

entire  cost  of  the  agricultural  college,  and  this  is  only  one  of  the 
many  great  contributions  made  to  the  State  of  Iowa  by  this 
agricultural  school.  This  same  method  of  seed  testing  is  now 
used  for  wheat,  barley,  oats,  peas,  alfalfa,  cotton  and  other  crops, 
with  just  as  valuable  results  as  in  the  case  of  corn. 

A  few  years  ago  the  orange  growers  of  California  lost  over 
s.").(  100,000  a  year  from  the  ravages  of  the  white  scale.  The 
pest  continued  to  spread  in  spite  of  all  efforts  of  the  growers 
till  it  looked  as  if  they  must  soon  lose  their  entire  orange  and 
lemon  groves.  The  experts  in  the  Department  of  Agriculture 
discovered  that  the  Australian  ladybird  beetle  would  destroy 
this  scale.  The  fruit  growers  were  taught  this  fact,  the  beetles 
were  imported  and  introduced  into  the  stricken  groves.  These 
beetles  fed  on  the  white  scale  so  voraciously  and  so  completely 
destroyed  this  pest  that  the  beetles  actually  began  to  starve  from 
lack  of  food,  and  small  colonies  of  them  had  to  be  especially 
fed  and  kept  at  the  experiment  stations  to  prevent  the  stock 
from  dying  out.  Education  in  entomology  thus  not  only  saves 
California  its  former  loss  of  $5,000,000  a  year  from  scale,  but 
saved  it  from  the  probable  final  loss  of  its  entire  fruit  industry. 

A  few  years  ago  the  cotton  boll  weevil,  which  had  increased 
steadily  from  year  to  year,  reached  a  point  at  which  it  de- 
stroyed in  Texas  over  $30,000.000  worth  of  cotton  in  one  season. 
Many  men  in  Southern  Texas  were  bankrupted,  cotton  planting 
was  given  up  in  certain  places  and  it  looked  as  if  this  great 
wealth-producing  industry  was  doomed  in  Texas  and  probably 
also  in  time  over  the  entire  South.  The  practical  farmers  were 
completely  overwhelmed.  Here  the  Department  of  Agriculture 
started  three  lines  of  experimentation:  first,  to  find  some  other 
harmless  insect  or  parasite  that  would  destroy  the  boll  weevil 
as  the  white  scale  had  been  destroyed  in  California;  second,  to 
develop  a  species  of  cotton  that  could  resist  weevil  attack,  and 
third,  to  find  a  method  of  cultivation  that  would  lessen  the  in- 
jury of  the  attack  of  the  weevil  when  made.  The  ants,  which 
the  department  brought  from  South  America  to  eat  up  the  boll 
weevil,  proved  a  failure,  but  the  development  of  a  better  method 
of  cultivation  and  the  use  of  better  adapted  varieties  of  cotton. 


174  CONFERENCE  FOR  EDTCATION. 

proved  so  successful  that  Texas  farmers  now,  following1  the 
methods  worked  out  by  the  department  investigators,  again 
raise  their  magnificent  crops  of  cotton  in  spite  of  the  boll  weevil. 

Texas  and  the  other  Southern  States  also  suffered  for  years 
losses  of  millions  in  the  cattle  industry  from  a  type  of  sple"hic 
fever,  commonly  called  Texas  fever.  Finally  this  fever  began 
to  be  carried  into  the  North  by  Southern  cattle  shipped  there, 
with  the  result  that  rigid  quarantines  were  established  against 
the  South,  which  practically  put  the  Southern  cattle  men  out 
of  business  for  a  large  part  of  each  year,  and  caused  still  fur- 
ther enormous  losses.  Furthermore,  this  fever  prevented  the 
importation  into  the  far  Southern  States  of  fine  breeds  of  cattle 
with  which  to  breed  up  the  poor  grade  herds.  In  Texas  prac- 
tically every  fine  bull  or  cow  imported  from  the  North  contracted 
this  fever  and  75%  of  them  died. 

The  experts  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture,  working  with 
the  professors  of  the  University  of  Missouri  and  of  the  Agricul- 
tural College  of  Texas,  discovered  that  this  fever  was  trans- 
mitted solely  through  the  cattle  tick,  which  carried  the  germs 
from  sick  cattle  and  implanted  them  in  well  cattle  when  suck- 
ing their  blood.  An  economical  method  of  ridding  cattle  of 
ticks  before  shipping,  by  a  process  of  dipping,  removed  all 
danger  to  Northern  cattle  from  Southern  shipments  and  the 
ccstly  quarantine  handicap  was  removed  or  greatly  mitigated. 
Next  these  scientists  discovered  that  the  fever  could  be  arti- 
ficially produced  by  injecting  blood  of  the  sick  cow  directly  into 
a  well  cow,  and  that  in  this  case  the  fever  was  much  less  viru- 
lent and  dangerous  than  when  the  germs  had  been  introduced 
through  tick  bite.  By  this  new  process  of  direct  inoculation  the 
cow  is  given  a  mild  case  of  the  fever  and  is  made  immune  there- 
after to  the  fever  in  any  form.  Since  that  discovery  we  can 
import  and  inoculate  fine  cattle  and  breed  our  scrub  stock 
with  safety  and  economy,  for  by  actual  experience  it  is  found 
that  only  5%  of  the  imported  cattle  die  now  from  the  inocula- 
tion while  nearly  80%  used  to  die  of  the  fever. 

The  Southern  States  have  3,500,000  milch  cows  valued  at 
less  than  $25  per  head,  whereas  Wisconsin  cows  are  valued  at 


DR.  ELLIS.  175 

$29  and  Illinois  at  $34  a  head.  The  South  has  also  6.000,000 
other  cattle  valued  at  $11  a  head,  whereas  Illinois  cattle  are 
Valued  at  $21  a  head.  If  by  the  importation  of  finer  breeds 
and  by  scientific  breeding  we  can  bring  our  present  herds  up 
to  Wisconsin  and  Illinois  values,  this  will  alone  add  between 
$30.000.000  and  $90,000,000  to  the  wealth  of  the  South.  Now 
that  our  scientists  have  tick  fever  under  control  there  is  nothing 
to  prevent  this  except  our  lack  of  education. 

During  the  past  three  years  a  practical  and  economical 
method  of  entirely  exterminating  these  ticks  has  been  worked 
out  and  tested  by  our  scientists,  and  the  ticks  have  already  been 
exterminated  over  nearly  64.000  square  miles,  an  area  larger 
than  the  State  of  Georgia,  and  it  is  only  a  matter  of  a  few  years 
and  wider  ditT'usion  of  education  when  the  cattle  tick  will  be 
entirely  exterminated.  When  we  consider  that  the  losses  of  all 
kinds  from  cattle  ticks  in  the  South  and  Southwest  were  esti- 
mated at  $40,000,000  per  year  we  can  see  what  these  scientific 
discoveries  mean  for  us. 

The  number  of  millions  of  dollars  that  these  investigations 
of  ticks  and  boll  weevils  add  each  year  to  Texas  and  to  the  far 
South  would  be  hard  to  calculate  accurately,  but  enough  is 
known  to  show  plainly  that  the  financial  returns  from  these 
two  results  of  higher  education  alone  repay  each  year  to  the 
Nation  and  to  these  States  ten  times  the  entire  cost  of  the  De- 
partment of  Agriculture  and  of  all  the  Southern  universities 
combined. 

I  have  in  mind  more  such  concrete  illustrations  from  the 
field  of  agriculture  than  I  could  relate  in  two  hours,  such  as  the 
practical  elimination  by  a  newly  discovered  vaccine  of  black- 
leg,  a  disease  that  used  to  take  oft'  from  10  to  12rr  of  the  calves 
in  all  infected  districts:  the  protection  from  anthrax-,  the  eco- 
nomical eradication,  twice  in  the  last  few  years,  of  the  dreaded 
foot-and-mouth  disease  which  caused  losses  of  $5,000,000  in  Eng- 
land in  1383  and  of  $7,000,000  in  France  in  1871  and  $25,000,000 
at  the  last  outbreak  in  Germany;  of  the  millions  saved  by  the 
new  process  of  dealing  with  scab  in  sheep;  of  the  great  possi- 
bilities of  the  recently  discovered  method  for  the  prevention 


176  CONFERENCE  FOR   K 

of  hog  cholera,  and  so  on.     But  I  must  desist  in  order  to  give  a 
few  illustrations  from  other  lines. 

In  the  development  of  our  mineral  resources  and  in  our 
manufactures,  higher  education  is  paying  even  larger  propor- 
tionate returns  than  in  agriculture.  Practically  the  entire 
$2,000,000,000  yearly  mineral  pr. duction  of  the  United  States 
is  directly  due  1o  a  few  chemical  and  electrical  processes  which 
were  worked  out  by  highly  educated  scientists.  For  example, 
the  cyanide  process  of  extracting  gold,  worked  out  in  the  lab- 
oratory in  1880  by  McArthur  and  Forrest,  is  responsible  for 
fully  one-third  of  the  world's  gold  production,  making  possible 
the  five  million  annual  production  of  the  Homestake  mine  in 
North  Dakota  and  the  one  hundred  and  forty-five  million  of 
South  Africa,  and  many  other  similar  cases.  The  Elkinlon 
electrolytic  process  of  refining  copper  is  in  the  same  way  u<ed 
now  in  producing  700,000,000  pounds  of  copper  annually  in  the 
United  States.  The  Bessemer  and  the  open  hearth  processes  of 
producing  steel,  by  which  nearly  all  of  our  23,000,000  tons  are 
produced  annually,  are  due  to  the  scientific  researches  of  Sir 
Henry  Bessemer,  of  Thomas  and  Gilchrist  and  of  Siemens. 
Birmingham,  Pittsburg  and  a  host  of  wealthy  cities  could  never 
have  come  into  being  but  for  these  discoveries.  Just  a  few 
months  ago  James  -Gay-ley's  discovery  taught  the  practical  steel 
workers  how  they  can  save  one-third  of  their  coke  and  at  the 
same  time  increase  the  output  of  their  furnaces  by  a  new  pro- 
cess of  extracting  the  moisture  from  the  blast.  This  alone 
means  the  saving  from  now  on  of  10,000,000  tons  of  coal  an- 
nually in  the  United  States.  Likewise  the  United  Stales  Gov- 
ernment experts  are  just  now  completing  some  experiments  on 
obtaining  power  by  first  reducing  coal  to  gas  and  burning  the 
gas  for  power  in  a  gas  engine  instead  of  our  old  process  of 
burning  the  coal  under  a  water  boiler  to  produce  power  by 
steam.  This  work  is  not  yet  complete,  but  enough  has  been 
done  to  show  that  four  times  as  much  power  can  be  obtained 
from  a  ton  of  coal  this  way  as  by  the  old  process.  The  hun- 
dreds of  millions  of  dollars  that  will  soon  be  saved  annually  by 
this  new  scientific  discovery  simply  stagu-er  the  imagination. 


DR.  ELLIS.  177 

A  good  illustration  of  the  monetary  value  of  higher  edu- 
cation in  chemistry  and  mining  is  seen  when,  one  compares  Ger- 
many and  England.  Both  countries  have  the  same  kind  of  iron 
ore  and  the  same  coal  supply.  England  has  the  advantage  of 
having  her  coal  nearer  the  iron  fields.  In  1880  England  mined 
and  produced  8,000.000  tons  of  pig  iron  per  year  while  Ger- 
many's product  was  only  3.000,000.  Since  that  time  Germany 
has  supported  handsomely  her  great  technical  universities  and 
sent  out  each  year  into  her  industries  a  stream  of  highly  trained 
experts,  with  the  result  that  in  1907,  while  England's  produc- 
tion had  risen  from  8,000,000  to  only  9,000,000  tons  per  year. 
Germany's  had  risen  from  3,000,000  to  13,000,000.  It  is  more 
significant  still  that  from  1900  to  1908  German  iron  brought 
on  the  average  nearly  $19  per  ton,  while  English  iron  brought 
only  $13  per  ton,  a  difference  of  nearly  50' ,  in  favor  of  the 
iron  made  by  the  better  educated  German  producer.  'Phis  one 
result  of  these  great  German  technical  institutions  would  alone 
add  $190,000.000  per  year  to  German  wealth  if  the  iron  were 
sold  as  raw  pig  iron.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  a  large  part  of  this 
iron  is  made  up  into  all  sorts  of  manufactured  products,  made 
possible  by  their  high  technical  education,  and  these  products 
are  exported  and  sold  at  many  times  the  price  of  the  raw  pig 
iron. 

Another  result'  of  fifty  years  of  these  German  technical 
schools  and  of  the  study  of  pure  science  in  their  universities 
has  been  to  make  Germany  the  great  supply  house  of  the  world 
for  chemicals.  Sir  Xorman  Lockyear  states  that  Germany  is 
enriched  over  $200,000,000  a  year  on  account  of  her  scientists 
having  improved  upon  the  chemical  industries  of  old  England. 
In  the  one  industry  of  producing  dyes,  two  great  factories  are 
said  to  use  the  services  of  over  four  hundred  university-trained 
chemists,  and  to  export  $100,000,000  worth  of  dye  stuff  alone. 
Nearly  every  suit  of  clothes,  every  cravat,  every  dress  or  hat 
we  wear  today  takes  money  from  our  pockets  and  puts  it  into 
the  pockets  of  these  educated  German  dye  makers. 

A  very  significant  fact  about  the  great  wealth  producing 
practical  discoveries  is  that  all  of  them  make  use  of  knowledge 


178  CONFERENCE  FOR  EDUCATION. 

that  was  pursued  as  pure  science  with  no  other  aim  on  the  part 
of  the  investigator  at  the  time  than  to  learn  the  truth.  It  was 
the  purely  scientific  and  abstract  studies  of  Joule,  Guy  Lessac 
and  Avrogardo  that  made  it  possible  for  James  Watt  and  the 
professor  of  psychics  in  the  University  of  Glasgow  to  give  to 
the  world  the  steam  engine.  The  purely  scientific  studies  of 
Franklin  and  Faraday  made  possible  the  latter  invention  of  the 
telegraph,  the  telephone,  the  electric  motor  and  electric  light. 

A  typical  example  of  the  practical  effect  of  work  in  abstract 
science  is  found  in  the  discovery  of  formaldehyde  by  Prof.  Hoff- 
man of  the  University  of  Berlin  while  investigating  the  p.urely 
scientific  question  of  the  oxidation  of  alcohols.  A  few  years 
later  another  found  that  this  gas  offered  a  better  means  of  dis- 
infection than  any  till  then  known,  thus  making  possible  the 
saving  of  thousands  of  lives  and  millions  of  money  formerly  lost 
from  plague  or  pestilence.  Later  still,  after  the  microscope  of 
the  scientist  had  revealed  that  oat  smut  was  caused  by  an  invis- 
ible fungus,  which  adheres  to  the  seed  and  is  planted  with  it, 
it  was  discovered  that  this  same  formaldedyde  would  kill  this 
fungus  completely  without  hurting  the  seed,  oats  and  thus  pre- 
vent the  millions  of  loss  from  smut.  In  the  same  way  Pasteur, 
in  his  laboratory  investigation  of  the  chemical  process  of  fer- 
mentation, discovered  that  fermentation  and  putrefaction  are 
due  to  microscopic  living  organisms  in  the  air  and  not  to  oxy- 
genation,  as  had  been  maintained.  On  the  basis  of  this  discov- 
ery in  pure  science,  Lister  and  others  have  developed  the  won- 
ders of  aseptic  and  antiseptic  surgery  and  sanitation,  and  the 
industrial  world  has  built  up  the  whole  modern  process  of  steril- 
ization and  preservation  of  food  stuffs  without  the  use  of  chemi- 
cals. The  amount  saved  the  human  race  each  year  by  this  and 
the  numerous  other  scientific  discoveries  of  this  one  great  French 
chemist  would  far  more  than  pay  all  the  expenses  of  every  uni- 
versity and  college  in  the  world. 

In  the  field  of  medical  education  mid  investigation  the  finan- 
cial returns  have  already  been  large  and  in  future  will  be  larger. 
All  industries  require  men  to  carry  them  on.  The  productive 
capacity  of  these  workers  rises  and  falls  with  their  health. 


DR.  ELLIS.  179 

K\ery  day  in  the  year  there  are  two  million  people  seriously 
sick  in  the  United  States.  Some  of  this  can  never  be  prevented, 
but  it  is  conservatively  estimated  by  Prof.  Fisher  that  our  an- 
nual lass  from  preventable  diseases  alone  is  $2.000,000,000  per 
year.  Consumption  alone  formerly  cost  the  United  States  over 
$1,000,000,000  a  year.  Since  the  discovery  of  the  germ  by  Dr. 
Koch,  and  of  the  improved  methods  of  prevention  and  cure,  it 
has  been  shown  that  where  this  knowledge  is  applied  75%  of 
the  loss  from  consumption  can  lie  prevented.  Typhoid  fever 
costs  the  country  $350,000,000  a  year.  The  city  of  Pittsburg 
alone  has,  by  careful  investigation,  been  shown  to  have  lost 
$3,142,000  from  typhoid  fever  in  one  year.  The  discovery  that 
typhoid  is  produced  by  a  special  germ,  which  is  usually  gotten 
from  the  water  or  milk  supply  or  from  flies,  has  made  it  pos- 
sible to  control  this  expensive  disease.  As  soon  as  all  our  citi- 
zens have  good  sanitary  training  this  $350,000,000  expense  for 
typhoid  can  be  completely  eliminated.  It  has  been  shown  that 
in  the  numerous  cities  in  which  the  water  supply  alone  has  been 
made  sanitary,  typhoid  has  been  reduced  on  the  average  71%. 
AVhat  a  further  saving  the  new  typhoid  antitoxine  treatment 
will  bring  us  it  is  yet  too  soon  to  tell.  The  diphtheria  antitoxine 
treatment  discovered  by  Dr.  Behrens  has  reduced  the  death  rate 
from  ."i.V ;  to  19' r  .  "Where  the  treatment  is  promptly  given  the 
loss  is  less  than  1','  .  This  expensive  disease  is  now  shown  to  be 
70';  preventable  when  modern  sanitation  is  employed. 

The  four  diseases  that  have  caused  the  greatest  financial 
losses  in  the  South — smallpox,  yellow  fever,  malaria  and  hook 
worm  disease — are  all  now  conquered  by  scientific  discoveries 
and  can  be  practically  exterminated  as  soon  as  the  general  pub- 
lic become  educated.  Few  of  us  appreciate  the  stupendous 
losses  from  these  diseases.  Before  Dr.  Jenner's  discovery,  one 
tenth  of  all  the  people  of  England  died  of  smallpox,  and  prac- 
tically everybody  caught  the  disease  when  it  got  a  start  in  any 
district.  The  epidemic  of  1871-2  in  Philadelphia  cost  $22,000,- 
000.  How  completely  modern  science  prevents  this  enormous 
loss  is  shown  by  our  experience  in  Havana.  Beween  1870  and 
1899,  12,722  people  died  in  Havana  of  smallpox.  During  the 
last  nine  years  in  which  modern  scientific  methods  were  ap- 


180  CONFERENCE  FOR  EDUCATION. 

plied  only  two  have  died  from  this  disease.  Our  experience  .in 
Havana  and  Panama  likewise  demonstrates  the  enormous  finan- 
cial value  of-  Dr.  Finley's  and  Dr.  Reed's  discoveries  with  re- 
gard to  yellow  fever  and  the  mosquito.  In  Havana  between 
1870  and  1899  there  were  21,448  deaths  from  yellow  fever.  In 
the  past  nine  years  of  enlightened  sanitation  and  treatment 
there  have  been  only  thirty-six  deaths.  General  Wood  states 
that  the  discoveries  of  these  two  men  save  each  year  more  lives 
than  were  lost  in  the  Cuban  war  and  save  the  commercial  world 
each  year  more  than  the  cost  of  the  entire  war.  Something  of 
the  saving  to  the  Southern  States  can  be  seen  when  we  recall 
that  the  epidemic  of  1878  cost  15,954  lives  and  over  $100,000,- 
000.  Time  will  not  allow  mention  of  the  valuable  work  done 
on  malaria  further  than  to  say  that  twelve  thousand  people  die 
of  malaria,  and  there  are  two  million  cases  in  the  United  States 
each  year,  and  all  are  preventable.  Nor  can  we  say  more  of 
hook  worm  disease  than  that  South  Carolina  alone  losses  $30,- 
000,000  a  year  from  the  lowered  vitality  of  her  working  people 
because  of  hook  worm  disease,  which  our  army  surgeons  in 
Porto  Rico  have  shown  can  be  easily  cured.' 

In  every  field  of  physical  science  can  it  be  just  as  clearly 
shown  that  higher  education  develops  the  industries  and  vast- 
ly increases  the  wealth  of  the  State.  But  physical  processes  are 
not  the  only  ones  necessary  for  the  production  and  conserva- 
tion of  wealth.  Property  cannot  be  held  and  wealth  cannot 
exist  where  there  is  no  law  or  order  or  government.  There  can 
be  no  law  or  government  where  there  is  no  intelligence,  and 
where  there  are  no  ideals  among  a  people.  The  educated  teacher, 
preacher  and  lawyer  are  all  essential  to  the  industrial  pros- 
perity of  a  State.  All  business  is  based  upon  the  security  of 
life  and  property  and  justice  among  men.  To  secure  these  ne- 
cessities we  must  have  educated  leaders  to  frame  our  laws,  and 
judges,  and  executives  wise  in  the  law  to  interpret  and  enforce 
them.  The  far-famed  railroad  commission  law  of  Texas,  which 
brought  these  corporations  from  their  predatory  courses  and 
turned  them  to  the  better  use  of  our  State,  came  from  the  brain 
of  a  State  university  graduate.  In  the  recent  famous  trial  by 
which  the  Waters-Pierce  Oil  Company  was  fined  $1,600,000  and 


DR.  ELLIS.  181 

forbidden  to  carry  on  longer  its  illegal  business  in  Texas,  four 
of  the  five  prosecuting  attorneys  and  the  presiding  judge  were 
graduates  of  the  University  of  Texas  Law  Department.  This 
trust  fought  every  step  of  the  way  with  the  best  talent  that  its 
money  could  buy,  but  so  well  were  these  bills  drawn,  so  intel- 
ligently was  the  trial  conducted  and  so  just  and  learned  were 
the  decisions  of  this  young  judge  that,  though  316  exceptions 
were  taken  to  the  method  of  trial  and  to  his  rulings,  and  though 
appeal  was  made  through  every  State  and  United  States  Court 
in  the  land,  not  one  flaw  could  be  found.  The  State  needs  edu- 
cated leaders  to  protect  her  citizens,  not  merely  from  illegal 
trusts  but  from  every  form  of  injustice.  The  financial  value 
of  such  educated  men  to  the  State  is  no  less  real,  and  is  no  less, 
than  that  of  the  chemist  or  mining  engineer,  though  these  values 
cannot  be  so  accurately  estimated. 

Perhaps  the  clearest  idea  of  the  value  of  higher  education 
to  a  State  can  be  gotten  from  a  very  brief  summary  of  the  con- 
tributions of  the  University  of  AVisconsin  to  the  economic  de- 
velopment of  that  State.  First.  Prof.  Babcock  by  inventing  his 
milk  test  saved  the  farmers  $800,000  worth  of  cream  each  year 
that  had  been  thrown  away :  enabled  them  to  breed  their  stock 
scientificallly,  so  that  the  average  value  is  now  $5  per  head 
more  than  Southern  stock :  taught  them  unproved  dairying  pro- 
cesses which  increased  the  price  of  their  dairy  products  from 
LM' ,  to  100',  and  increased  the  total  value  of  the  State's  dairy 
products  to  $50,000,000  per  year.  Then  the  cheese  industry 
was  put  on  a  scientific  basis  by  the  invention  of  the  curd  test 
and  the  casein  test  and  by  the  discovery  of  galactase  and  the 
origination  of  the  cold  storage  process  of  cheese  ripening,  by 
which  several  hundred  thousand  dollars  extra  is  annually  added 
to  Wisconsin's  wealth.  The  horse  raising  and  poultry  indus- 
tries are  now  being  put  on  the  same  sort  of  scientific  basis.  The 
farmers  have  been  taught  to  prevent  oat  and  wheat  smut  by 
soaking  the  seed  in  formaldehyde  and  thus  saved  an  annual 
loss  of  from  $2.000,000  to  $6,000,000.  A  new  variety  of  oats 
has  been  developed  and  distributed  which  increases  the  State's 
annual  crop  five  million  bushels.  A  special  seed  corn  has  been 
bred  and  distributed  which  has  added  fifteen  million  bushels 


182  COXFKREXCE  FOR   EDUCATION. 

per  year  to  the  annual  production,  and  a  newer  and  much  better 
corn  is  just  now  ready  to  distribute.  Sugar  beet  culture  has 
been  taught  and  a  million  dollar  crop  already  gathered.  The 
potato,  wheat,  barley  and  tobacco  crops  and  the  fruit  and  berry 
industries  have  been  investigated  and  improved,  and  great  prob- 
lems of  drainage,  irrigation  and  soil  fertility  worked  out  with 
rich  returns. 

The  entire  financial  returns  each  year  to  that  State  from 
her  university  agricultural  investigations  and  teaching  alone 
are  simply  incalculable,  but  enough  measurable  concrete  cases 
are  known  to  show  that  this  department  alone  returns  to  the 
State  each  year  ten  to  twenty  times  the  entire  amount  spent  on 
the  whole  university.  There  are  now  2.500  graduates  of  the 
various  agricultural  courses  scattered  over  the  State  who  are 
active  sources  of  light  and  centers  for  experimentation  and  for 
distribution  of  new  seeds  and  new  processes.  The  university 
has  lecturers  at  two  hundred  farmers'  institutes  each  year. 
There  are  alfalfa  institutes  in  alfalfa  sections,  potato  institutes 
in  potato  sections  and  so  on.  It  has  also  exhibits  of  new  prod- 
ucts and  processes,  with  lectures  and  demonstrations  at  the 
State  and  county  fairs.  Preparations  are  this  year  being  made 
for  2,000  students  of  agriculture  in  the  university,  and  corres- 
pondence courses  are  offered  to  all  others  who  cannot  come; 
improved  seed  and  intelligent  advice  are  sent  into  all  parts  of 
the  State  on  request:  teachers  of  agriculture  are  being  trained 
for  the  public  schools,  and  now  the  boys  and  girls  in  their 
homes  are  being  aroused  by  distribution  of  seeds  and  by  the 
boys'  contests  established  by  the  university  at  the  county  fairs. 
Last  year  such  contests  were  held  in  twenty-six  counties,  and 
in  the  Dane  County  Fair  alone  800  children  entered  the  con- 
test and  exhibited  their  improved  corn. 

What  earthly  chance  have  the  farming  interests  and  dairy 
interests  of  the  South  in  competition  with  such  education  and 
training  and  such  intelligence  as  this  ?  There  is  but  one  chance 
under  heaven  for  us  and  that  is  to  provide  here  at  once  a  still 
better  and  more  thorough  system  of  education.  Remember  that 
this  work  is  all  new  even  in  these  States  and  has  begun  to  show 


DR.  ELLIS.  183 

its  results  only  during  the  last  ten  years.  These  results  are  as 
yet  small  as  compared  with  what  they  will  soon  be. '  If  we  in 
the  South  wait  another  decade  to  begin  to  seriously  plan  for 
education  not  Heaven  itself  can  save  us  from  permanent  in- 
dustrial serfdom. 

But  the  direct  beneficial  effects  of  the  University  of  "Wis- 
consin upon  the  economic  development  of  that  State  only  begin 
with  agriculture.  In  the  same  way  this  university  ministers 
to  all  those  industries  of  that  State  which  demand  high  engin- 
eering skill,  whether  this  be  as  civil,  mining,  electric,  hydraulic 
or  chemical  engineer.  This  department  alone  educates  nearly 
a  thousand  young  men  each  year  for  the  service  of  the  industries 
of  the  State. 

Likewise  the  departments  of  Law  and  Economics  provide 
the  State  with  experts  in  these  lines.  The  Chairman  of  the 
State  Eate  Commission  is  Prof.  Meyer,  of  the  Department  of 
Economics.  The  tax  commissions  and  the  rate  commissions  use 
the  well  trained  professors  and  graduates  for  their  most  im- 
portant work.  Forty-two  of  the  faculty  hold  such  positions  of 
importance  in  the  splendid  State  government  of  Wisconsin. 
Wisconsin  is  one  State  in  which  such  bills  hold,  and  in  which 
railroads  and  corporations  are  regulated  and  still  prosper.  The 
University  has  a  regular  department  with  a  trained  head  and 
assistants  whose  work  it  is  to  help  legislators  in  preparing  bills, 
and  the  great  majority  of  bills  are  drawn  for  the  legislators  by 
these  experts. 

Lately  this  university  has  established  a  university  exten- 
sion department  to  carry  light  by  correspondence  and  traveling- 
lecturers  to  those  in  the  homes  and  factories  and  shops  and  other 
places  of  daily  labor  who  cannot  come  to  the  university.  Over 
1,200  people  have  enrolled  already  in  these  courses,  which  cover 
all  subjects  from  domestic  economy,  shop  mathematics  and  road 
building  to  political  science,  literature  and  art. 

But  the  greatest  contribution  to  the  economic  development 
of  Wisconsin  which  her  university  is  making  is  not  through  the 
discovery  of  ne\v  processes  or  the  origination  of  new  industries, 
as  immensely  valuable  as  these  are,  but  through  the  education 


184  CONFERENCE  FOR  EDFCATION. 

of  broadminded  leaders  who  are  to  direct  all  the  industries  and 
carry  on  the  government  itself.  No  sort  of  mere  technical  in- 
dustrial efficiency  would  produce  or  conserve  wealth  among  a 
people  without  breadth  of  view  and  high  ideals  of  life.  That 
the  university  has  not  failed  to  provide  the  State  with  such 
leaders  the  names  of  La  Follette,  of  Vilas,  of  Van  Hise  and  of 
scores  of  others  of  her  sons  are  ample  proof. 

We  can  all  see  now  definitely  enough  just  how  the  South 
is  literally  throwing  away  billions  of  dollars  each  year  through 
lack  of  efficient  education  and  training  for  its  citizens.  How 
long  do  you  suppose  we  shall  be  allowed  to  till  our  soil  and 
carry  on  our  industrial  enterprises  in  this  ignorant  and  un- 
skilled manner  ?  Just  as  sure  as  cause  follows  effect  there  will 
speedily  come  a  day  when  the  highly  educated  men  of  other  sec- 
tions, having  worked  up  the  more  easily  reached  resources  < ;f 
these  States,  will  turn  toward  the  rich,  natural  resources  of  the 
South.  These  educated  and  splendidly  equipped  men  and 
women  will  move  into  our  section  and  compete  with  us  for  pos- 
session of  this  land  and  its  great  natural  resources.  Our  chil- 
dren will  certainly  have  to  face  this  industrial  struggle,  and 
indeed  we  are  beginning  to  feel  it  already  ourselves.  There 
can  be  but  one  end  to  a  competition  between  ignorance  and 
consequent  incompetence  on  the  one  side  and  education  and  cul- 
tivated skill  on  the  other.  The  educated  and  trained  soon  gain 
possession  of  all  the  resources  while  the  former  unskilled  own- 
ers lapse  into  a  state  of  dependence  and  of  industrial  and  social 
serfdom.  Are  we  descendants  of  the  men  who  drafted  our 
Constitution,  who  planned  and  for  fifty  years  guided  this  great 
republic,  going  to  doom  our  children  to  that  fate?  Are  we 
descendants  of  Lee  and  Jackson,  of  Davis  and  Stephens,  and 
the  splendid  heroes  who  threw  cheerfully  their  lives  and  their 
whole  fortunes  on  the  balance  to  carry  out  their  ideal  of  a  free 
government  going  to  prove  ourselves  too  timid  and  too  selfish 
to  make  those  sacrifices  now  for  our  children's  education  which 
are  absolutely  necessary  to  protect  them  from  impending  in- 
dustrial and  social  subjugation  and  dependence?  This  is  ex- 
actly what  \\v  an-  now  doing.  We  have  in  truth  made  some 


DR.  ELLIS.  185 

progress  in  recent  years,  but  we  are  still  so  far  behind  that  we 
are  not  in  the  race,  and  will  not  get  in  it  till  we  double  and 
quadruple  the  efforts  we  are  now  making.  It  is  claimed  that  we 
are  doing  all  that  we  can.  I  say  that  is  false.  As  lonu  as 
the  South  spends  $:>.">(  ).<iii<t.<l<)<)  a  year  for  whiskey  and  tobacco. 
and  double  as  much  for  luxuries  of  dress  and  palate,  while  we 
spend  less  than  $2,000. (><:0  on  universities  and  colleges  it  is 
absurd  to  say  that  we  are  doing  what  we  can.  We  must  stop 
looking  on  money  spent  upon  education  as  a  tax  and  recognize 
that  it  is  a  financial  investment  and  the  best  paying  investment 
that  can  be  made.  With  such  States  as  Michigan.  AYisconsin. 
California,  Illinois  and  even  the  new  little  State  of  Washing- 
ton spending  each  over  a  million  on  their  universities  while  our 
Southern  States  still  average  less  than  one  hundred  and  thirty 
thonsand  per  year  on  theirs:  with  a  dozen  other  States  pos- 
sessing university  property  and  equipment  valued  at  from  one 
to  five  millions,  with  Illinois  about  to  issue  $10,000,000  worth 
of  bonds  to  still  further  equip  her  university,  and  with  the 
Eastern  States  possessing  universities  that  are  still  better 
equipped  and  endowed,  when  do  you  think  we  are  going  to 
catch  up  at  our  present  rate  of  appropriations  for  higher  edu- 
catio .'  Never!  AVe  must  inevitably  fall  farther  and  farther 
behind  unless  something  radically  different  is  done  speedily. 
As  I  have  said,  it  is  absurd  to  say  that  we  cannot  double  and 
quadruple  at  once  the  annual  appropriations  voted  for  our 
universities  ami  colleges  for  running  expenses,  but  in  addition 
to  this  increased  maintenance  there  is  not  a  university  in  the 
South  that  does  not  need  at  once  from  $1.000.000  to  $5.000,000 
for  lands,  buildings  and  equipment.  As  this  equipment  for 
education  is  absolutely  essential  to  the  economic  development 
of  the  State,  and  as  it  is  impossible  to  secure  these  large  sums 
suddenly  out  of  general  taxation.  1  see  but  one  solution  to  our 
problem,  and  that  is  to  issue  bonds  for  the  development  of 
higher  education.  This  is  no  new  and  untried  scheme.  AVe 
issue  bonds  to  build  railroads  and  bridges,  to  put  in  water- 
works and  lighting  systems  and  to  develop  our  mineral  resources. 
AVhy  should  the  State  not  issue  bonds  to  develop  its  greatest 
and  most  productive  resource,  its  human  resource .'  The  ed- 


186  CONFERENCE  FOR  EDUCATION. 

ucated  human  mind  is  the  greatest  producing  agency  in  the 
world,  without  which  climate,  fertile  soil  and  mineral  deposits 
arc  but  so  much  useless  material.  We  already  issue  bonds  for 
elementary  education.  It  is  therefore  all  the  more  demanded 
that  we  issue  bonds  and  develop  our  higher  education  in  order 
to  train  leaders  to  direct,  and  teachers  to  teach,  the  elementary 
schools,  so  that  the  enormous  sums  spcii'  on  elementary  schools 
shall  not  be  longer  wasted  on  unwise  plans  and  uneconomical 
methods.  Progress  in  education  has  always  and  everywhere 
worked  from  above  downward  and  must  in  the  nature  of  things 
ever  so  work.  As  President  Eliot  said,  the  first  and  greatest 
need  of  the  South  and  of  every  other  section  is  leaders,  leaders 
of  ideals  and  leaders  of  action.  The  broad  and  cultivated  lead- 
ership demanded  today  can  be  developed  in  sufficient  quantity 
to  meet  the  needs  of  a  people  only  through  fully  equipped  in- 
stitutions of  higher  learning.  We  have  the  men  and  we  have 
the  money  to  do  it.  When  any  one  asks  us  in  the  face  of  our 
present  crippled  condition  if  we  have  surrendered  the  leader- 
ship of  this  country  forever  to  our  better  educated  neighbors 
across  the  line  let  us,  in  those  uplifting  words  of  old  Paul  Jones, 
answer  back  that  we've  "just  begun  to  fight." 

.MR.  OGDEN— We  now  have  the  honor  to  hear  from  President 
Van  Hise,  of  the  University  of  Wisconsin. 

DR.  VAN  HISE. 
THE  STATE  UNIVERSITY  IN  THE  SKKVICK  OF  THE  STATE. 

.]/.•.  President,  Ladies  and  Genii/  HH  H: 

It  is  indeed  a  very  great  pleasure  for  one  from  Wisconsin 
to  come  to  Atlanta  to  speak  to  the  people  of  the  South  interested 
in  education.  From  Georgia  I  suppose  there  are  present  a 
larger  proportion  than  from  any  other  State.  Georgia  and 
Wisconsin  are  alike  in  many  respects.  The  area  of  Georgia  is 
somewhat  greater  than  that  of  Wisconsin,  but  both  States  fall 
between  55,000  and  60,000  square  miles.  The  population  of 
the  two  States  is  about  the  same,  each  having  eleven  congres- 


DR.  VAN  HISE.  187 

sional  districts.     In  both  States  are  a  variable  soil  and  climate 
and  a  wide  variety  of  natural  resources. 

It  has  been  my  good  fortune  to  have  spent  much  time  in  the 
South  and  thus  to  have  enjoyed  your  warm-hearted  hospitality. 
Also  I  have  had  an  opportunity  to  see  and  appreciate  your 
beautiful  scenery.  As  an  officer  of  the  United.  States  Geological 
Survey  I  have  ridden  up  and  down  the  mountains  of  Georgia, 
Tennessee  and  North  Carolina,  through  a  number  of  seasons, 
and  possibly  I  know  these  beautiful  mountains  better  than  most 
Southerners.  Indeed,  outside  of  the  Lake  Superior  country,  I 
have  probably  spent  more  time  in  the  southeastern  part  of  the 
United  States  than  in  any  other. 

I  appreciate  that  the  problem  of  higher  education  in  the 
South  presents  very  serious  difficulties  with  which  it  is  not  nec- 
essary for  us  in  the  North  to  contend.  Also  I  know  that  the 
Southern  States  in  contributing  their  quota  to  the  national  pen- 
sion roll,  and  at  the  same  time  being  obliged  to  pension  their 
own  soldiers,  have  an  exceptionally  heavy  draft  upon  their  re- 
sources, from  which  the  North  escapes.  I  mention,  these  things 
in  order  that  you  may  know  I  understand  the  heavy  handicap 
under  which  the  South  is  laboring;  and  therefore  in  telling 
of  the  development  of  the  Northern  State  universities  I  hope 
you  will  not  feel  that  I  am  reflecting  upon  the  South,  but  rather 
pointing  out  the  way  which  the  Southern  States,  I  am  sure,  will 
follow  as  rapidly  as  their  conditions  will  permit. 

Prof.  Ellis  has  relieved  me  from  embarrassment  in  telling 
of  the  achievements  of  some  of  the  Northern  State  universities. 
He  has  told  you  of  the  material  advances  resulting  from  the 
work  of  those  institutions.  By  chance  he  has  picked  out  the 
University  of  Wisconsin  as  a  type  of  the  class,  and  has  reached 
the  conclusion  that  the  work  which  has  been  done  in  agriculture 
in  that  university  has  increased  the  wealth  of  the  State  of  Wis- 
consin ten  to  twenty  times-  the  cost  of  the  university  to  the 
people.  He  has  told  of  the  great  development  of  the  dairy  hus- 
bandry in  that  State,  as  a  result  of  the  work  of  Babcock,  Far- 
rington  and  Hart.  He  has  told  of  the  development  of  high 
grade  corn  and  barley  adapted  to  the  State.  He  has  told  of 


188  CONFERENCE  FOR  EDUCATION. 

the  work  upon  smut  of  oats  and  other  diseases.  He  has  said 
that  these  various  lines  of  investigation  have  increased  the  wealth 
of  the  State  by  many  millions  of  dollars  per  annum. 

Therefore  it  will  not  be  necessary  for  me  to  speak  in  detail 
of  this  work.  I  am  left  free  to  tell  of  our  ideals  and  methods, 
the  manner  in  which  these  and  other  results  have  been  accom- 
plished rather  than  the  results  themselves. 

It  has  long  been  recognized  that  it  is  a  primary  function  of 
a  university  to  instruct  the  students  who  come  to  the  institu- 
tion, but  until  comparatively  recently  in  this  country  it  has 
been  supposed  that  the  colleges  and  universities  exist  for  that 
purpose  exclusively.  Until  about  thirty  years  ago  there  was  no 
educational  institution  in  the  United  States  that  thought  se- 
riously of  doing  more  than  this.  I  am  not  belittling  this  work, 
for  it  must  be  realized  that  institutions  doing  instructional 
work  exclusively  are  rendering  the  State  and  the  Nation  a 
service  of  primary  importance  by  sending  out  educated  men 
and  women  to  various  parts  of  the  country  to  build  up  the  com- 
munities to  which  they  go  along  all  lines. 

Gradiially,  however,  it  was  realized  that  the  work  of  edu- 
cating the  students  who  came  to  an  institution  was  only  one  of 
the  opportunities  of  the  universities,  and  new  functions  have 
from  time  to  time  been  taken  on.  The  first  of  the  movements 
for  improving  the  old  standard — that  of  research — came  from 
two  sources.  One  of  these  was  Johns  Hopkins  University,  which 
brought  over  to  America  the  German  methods.  The  other  is 
the  work  which  has  been  mentioned  by  Prof.  Ellis.  The  agri- 
cultural colleges,  some  of  them  independent,  and  some  as 
branches  of  the  .State  universities,  took  up  not  only  the  teaching 
of  agricultural  knowledge  but  the  advancement  of  the  science 
itself. 

At  Johns  Hopkins,  scholarship  and  research  were  especially 
developed  along  the  lines  of  the  humanities  and  the  pure  sciences. 
Under  the  leadership  of  Hopkins  advanced  work  has  been  rec- 

ngnized  as  an  integral  part  of  the  endowed  universities,  but  it 
has  been  supposed  until  recently,  indeed,  it  is  still  said  that 
the  State  university  must  be  especially  careful  in  this  matter; 


DR.  VAN   HISE.  189 

that  it  is  very  well  for  the  endowed  institution  to  maintain 
advanced  scholarship  and  research,  but  that  it  would  not  do 
for  the  State  university  to  undertake  this  function :  that  the 
people  of  a  State  would  not  tax  themselves  to  support  advanced 
work  other  than  in  the  applied  sciences.  But  this  is  not  the 
fact,  and  these  State  institutions  that  have  had  the  courage 
to  put  forward  the  highest  ideals  have  had  the  support  of  the 
people  of  their  States. 

I  have  steadily  held  that  there  should  be  no  difference  in 
this  particular  between  the  State  university  and  the  endowed 
institution.  Indeed,  we  know  that  the  State  university  in  <!er- 
many  regards  it  as  its  chief  function  to  advance  knowledge 
without  respect  to  immediate  practical  value.  If  a  State  uni- 
versity in  this  country  could  not  hold  to  the  same  standard  this 
would  indeed  be  the  most  serious  charge  that  has  been  made 
against  democracy. 

There  has  been  a  tendency  for  the  State  universities  to  de- 
vote their  energy  mainly  to  applied  science,  but  there  should 
be  no  limit  on  the  lines  of  research  which  are  carried  on.  The 
soundness  of  this  conclusion  is  plain  when  it  is  understood  that 
all  the  advances  in  applied  knowledge  depend  upon  discoveries 
in  pure  science.  Many  illustrations  of  this  principle  might  be 
given,  but  time  suffices  for  only  one  or  two. 

"When  something  more  than  a  half  century  ago  Pasteur  was 
looking  through  a  compound  microscope  at  the  minute  forms  of 
life  who  would  have  been  brave  enough  to  ask  of  a  State  legis- 
lature funds  for  this  work,'  What  better  object  of  derision 
could  have  been  furnished  a  legislator  than  the  man  who  was 
studying  by  purely  scientific  methods  forms  of  life  so  small 
that  the  naked  eye  could  not  see  them  .'  Yet  the  work  of  Pasteur. 
Koch  and  their  successors,  has  led  to  the  most  beneficent  dis- 
coveries which  it  has  been  the  lot  of  man  to  bestow  upon  his 
fellow  men.  1'pon  their  work  rests  modern  scientific  medicine. 
The  word  diphtheria  no  longer  whitens  the  cheek  of  the  parent ; 
never  again  will  the  cholera  or  plague  sweep  over  this  country; 
yellow  fever  for  the  last  time  has  decimated  your  Southern 
States. 


190  CONFERENCE  FOR  EDUCATION. 

These  mighty  results,  which  have  already  saved  many  mil- 
lions of  lives  and  immeasurable  human  sorrow,  are  the  direct 
results  of  research  in  pure  science,  made  without  reference  to 
any  practical  good  that  could  be  pointed  out  at  the  time  the  in- 
vestigations were  undertaken. 

Only  a  short  time  since  we  were  thrilled  by  the  story  of  the 
Republic,  that,  struck  a  mortal  blow  at  sea,  sent  out  Marconi 
messages  to  ships  upon  various  parts  of  the  ocean.  From  all 
directions  vessels  came  to  lend  aid  and  the  passengers  of  the 
Republic  were  saved. 

But  no  Marconigraph  would  have  ever  gone  vibrating 
through  the  storm  and  darkness  had  it  not  been  for  the  re- 
searches on  ethereal  vibrations  by  Hertz.  Pure  science  has  made 
the  ether,  that  substance  which  the  balance  cannot  weigh,  which 
the  eye  cannot  see,  which  the  touch  cannot  feel,  as  real  to  rea- 
son as  the  material  substances  with  which  we  are  in  daily  con- 
tact. Wireless  telegraphy  is  based  directly  upon  profound  re- 
searches in  pure  science  which  were  made  with  no  thought  of 
any  practical  end. 

Thus  it  is  clearly  the  duty  of  the  State  university  to  study 
pure  science.  Indeed,  it  may  be  held  that!  the  man  who  is  en- 
larging the  realm  of  knowledge  along  fundamental  lines  with- 
out any  reference  to  any  immediate  use  is  the  most  practical 
of  men.  Upon  this  earth  we  have  made  for  ourselves  a 
little  globe  of  light,  which  is  surrounded  by  a  great  realm  of 
darkness.  Here  and  there  a  man  is  at  work  extending  its  border. 
It  must  be  the  function  of  the  State  university  to  enlarge  this 
globe.  More  light,  more  light  is  the  most  fundamental  need 
of  the  people. 

Therefore,  the  State  University  of  Wisconsin  sets  no  limit 
to  the  field  of  its  investigations  in  science.  Nor  must  we  con- 
fine our  endeavors  to  science  alone.  At  the  present  time  there 
are  pressing  upon  this  nation  for  solution  many  political  and 
social  problems.  How  shall  we  meet  them1?  Unhappily,  each 
individual  thinks  himself  able  to  give  a  final  opinion  upon  the 
current  social  and  political  problems,  and  frequently  this  opin- 
ion is  readily  offered  in  proportion  as  the  man  lacks  knowledge 


DR.  VAN    RISE.  191 

of  political  economy,  political  science  and  history.  If  we  solve 
our  great  political  and  social  questions  it  will  not  be  simply 
by  blind,  emotional  decisions,  but  by  calm  judicial  under- 
standing. 

If  you  here  in  each  of  the  State  universities  of  the  Southern 
States  can  scientifically  educate  each  year  hundreds  of  young 
men  and  \vomen  in  history,  political  economy,  political  science 
and  sociology,  and  send  them  all  over  your  States,  you  will  have 
laid  the  foundation  for  the  solution  of  those  problems  which 
are  general  to  all  the  States,  and  those  which  are  peculiar  to 
the  Southren  States.  They  never  will  be  solved  by  ignorance, 
by  prejudice,  or  by  passion.  It  should  be  the  function  of  every 
State  university  in  the  Southern  States  to  maintain  strong  de- 
partments in  these  modern  humanities. 

In  the  Legislature  of  Wisconsin  at  the  present  time  about 
one-fourth  of  the  Senate  and  one-fifth  of  the  Assembly  are 
graduates  of  the  University  of  Wisconsin.  I  do  not  know  the 
number  of  graduates  from  other  institutions,  but  probably  a 
fourth  or  a  fifth  of  the  body  are  college  or  university  graduates, 
and  the.se  men  occupy  leading  places  on  important  committees. 
Furthermore  the  Legislature  has  the  assistance  of  a  scientifically 
organixed  legislative  reference  library,  with  a  doctor  of  phil- 
osophy of  the  University  of  "Wisconsin  in  political  science  at 
its  head. 

In  the  South  as  in  the  Xorth  we  shall  get  good  laws  when 
scattered  throughout  our  communities  are  a  large  number  of 
men  and  women  soundly  trained  in  political  economy,  political 
science,  history  and  sociology,  who  will  be  leaders  in  the  shap- 
ing of  public  sentiment  in  the  various  communities,  and  from 
among  whom  men  will  be  sent  to  the  legislatures  to  shape  into 
law  the  formulated  sentiment  developed  by  the  college  men  and 
women. 

Wisconsin  is  one  of  the  Mates  that  has  a  public  utilities  law. 
A  State  commission  controls  the  rates  which  ma}'  be  charged 
by  the  companies  of  the  State  from  the  railroads  to  the  tele- 
phone companies.  The  formulation  of  this  law  was  very  largely 
the  work  of  men  soundly  trained  in  political  science.  When 


192  CONFERENCE  FOR  EDUCATION. 

the  law  in  a  more  limited  at  a  ire  of  development  was  originally 
proposed,  it  \v;is  denounced  by  the  railroad  companies,  since 
th«-y  feared  that  their  property  would  be  confiscated.  At  the 
present  time  this  public  utilities  la\v  is  praised  both  by  the  cor- 
porations and  by  the  people.  The  rate  commission  has  the  con- 
fidence of  both,  and  there  is  now  pence  where  there  was  in  the 
past  continual  war.  One  of  the  chief  railroad  men  in  the  coun- 
try has  given  money  freely  to  build  up  a  railroad  library  at  the 
University  of  AYisc<  nsin,  as  complete  as  any  in  the  country,  in 
order  that  transportation  may  be  very  thoroughly  taught.  The 
man  at  the  head  of  the  rate  commission,  who  has  more  to  do  with 
the  administration  of  the  public  utility  law  than  any  other,  is 
a  professor  taken  fronr  the  department  of  political  economy  of 
the  University  of  AVisconsin. 

If  the  current  socinl.  political  and  economic  questions  are 
satisfactorily  handled,  the  so-called  interests  and  the  people 
will  both  be  satisfied.  Both  want  justice,  neither  should  want 
more  than  justice,  and  justice  can  only  be  found  by  scientific 
studies.  These  scientific  studies  can  only  be  made  by  men  who 
have  been  broadly  and  deeply  trained  in  the  modern  humanities. 

Therefore  the  solution  of  your  political,  socinl  and  econom- 
ical questions  in  Georgia  and  in  the  other  States  of  the  South 
is  not  in  the  denouncement  of  the  interests,  or  the  denounce- 
ment of  this  or  that  view,  but  in  the  placing  of  strong  depart- 
ments of  political  economy,  political  science,  history  and  sociol- 
ogy in  each  of  your  universities,  in  order  that  they  may  send 
out  many  men  and  women  trained  thoroughly  to  solve  your 
problems  along  lines  which  are  right  and  just  to  all. 

But  we  must  not  confine  our  studies  in  the  university  to  ap- 
plied and  pure  science  and  to  the  modern  humanities.  We  must 
continue  to  study  in  the  future,  as  in  the  past,  philosophy,  lan- 
guage, literature  and  art.  All  these  subjects  have  to  do  with  the 
higher  intellectual  development  of  humanity.  The  purpose  of 
applied  science  is  to  increase  the  material  wealth.  But  for 
whom?  For  man,  of  course.  Shall  we  then  give  to  a  man  food, 
clothing  and  a  house  and  neglect  his  higher  faculties.'  All  of 
the  work  in  science,  pure  and  applied,  all  of  the  work  in  the 


DR.  VAN   HISE.  193 

modern  1  u:nanities  is  for  mankind.  And  while  the  university 
should  ar.ii  to  give  favorable  material  conditions,  the  purpose 
of  this  should  always  be  borne  in  mind — the  development  of 
the  highest  type  of  man.  And  thus  it  is  that  the  modern  State 
university  must  extend  the  scope  of  its  work  from  agriculture 
to  the  fine  arts. 

But  the  duties  of  the  professor  in  the  university  are  not 
done  when  he  instructs  the  students  at  his  institution  and  when 
he  carries  on  research  in  his  subject.  He  must  also  hold  him- 
self ready  to  serve  the  State  in  any  desired  capacity.  This  func- 
tion of  a  university  professor  has  been  much  more  extensively 
developed  in  the  North  than  in  the  South. 

Where,  when  a  difficult  problem  confronts  Georgia,  should 
its  Mate  Legislature  turn  for  advice  if  not  to  its  university? 
If  you  desire  that  the  public  utilities  of  .your  State  be  valued, 
who  can  do  it  so  well  as  the  professors  of  the  engineering  de- 
partment of  your  university  ?  The  professors  of  the  university 
are  in  the  position  of  judges.  They  have  no  retainer  on  either 
side  of  the  case.  They  are  simply  interested  in  finding  out  the 
truth. 

In  Wis'-onsin  at  the  present  time  there  are  more  than  forty 
men  \vho  are  serving  the  Mate  outside  of  the  university  in  some 
official  capacity  or  other.  Some  of  the  professors  are  members 
of  two  or  three  commissions.  The  dean  of  the  college  of  liberal 
arts  serves  the  State  in  three  or  four  different  capacities  as 
nit  mber  of  State  commissions,  as  does  also  the  president.  Thus 
we  have  the  State  turning  to  the  university  as  a  matter  of  course 
for  expert  advice  along  various  lines. 

At  Wisconsin  very  gradually  it  dawned  upon  us  that  even 
the  above  fields  did  not  cover  the  entire  duty  of  the  State  uni- 
versity. Until  about  fifty  years  ago.  the  knowledge  which  had 
been  developed  by  the  human  race  so  far  as  it  could  be  used  by 
the  people  had  been  pretty  well  assimilated  by  them.  Before, 
that  time  the  advancement  of  knowledge  had  been  extremely 
slow.  The  advancement  of  knowledge  since  that  time  has  been 
unquestionably  greater  than  in  any  thousand  years  preceding — 
probably  greater  than  in  any  two  thousand  years.  I'nder  these 


194  CONFERENCE  FOR  EDUCATION. 

conditions  the  people  have  inevitably  lagged  behind  in  the  as- 
similation of  the  knowledge  developed. 

We  may  say  that  this  knowledge  should  reach  the  people 
through  the  schools.  But  what  about  the  adults?  They  left 
the  schools  before  the  new  knowledge  existed?  They  have  still 
from  twenty-five  to  fifty  years  to  live.  Shall  we  let  them,  die 
not  eating  of  the  bread  of  life?  Or  shall  we  carry  the  new 
knowledge  out  to  them?  Why  not  make  it  a  function  of  the 
State  university  to  do  this .' 

Gradually  it  dawned  upon  us  at  the  University  of  Wisconsin 
that  it  is  the  duty  of  the  State  university  to  carry  out  to  the 
people  the  knowledge  which  they  lack  and  which  they  can  as- 
similate to  their  advantage. 

And  therefore  we  have  established  an  extension  division  and 
are  offering  to  the  people  courses  of  all  grades.  I  told  of  this 
plan  to  the  president  of  a  prominent  Eastern  university  and 
he  said:  "What  about  your  academic  standards.'"  I  replied: 
"We  are  not  admitting  students  to  our  regular  courses  in  the 
university  on  a  different  basis  than  in  the  past.  Our  degrees 
are  not  less  valuable  than  before.  We  do  not  see  how  it  belit- 
tles us  to  do  the  work  which  the  people  want  done  ?"  And  the 
statement  was  made  that  so  far  as  the  University  of  Wisconsin 
is  concerned  we  propose  to  take  up  any  line  of  educational  work 
within  the  State  for  which  the  university  is  the  best  fitted  in- 
strument. And  it  was  with  this  idea  that  we  established  the 
extension  division.  Although  it  has  existed  only  three  years 
it  is  already  reaching  many  thousands  of  people.  In  corres- 
pondence alone  there  are  more  than  two  thousand  students  do- 
ing regular  work  and  before  two  years  more  have  gone  by  there 
will  be  more  students  doing  correspondence  work  than  there 
are  students  resident  at  Madison. 

Prof.  Lester  F.  Ward,  one  of  the  foremost  sociologists  of 
the  country,  in  a  book  of  some  five  hundred  pages,  has  proved 
that  the  greatest  economic  lass  of  a  nation  is  the  loss  of  talent. 
In  other  words,  he  has  scientifically  proved  what  the  insight  of 
the  poet  saw  when  he  said  that  in  some  country  churchyard 
may  lie  a  mute  inglorious  Milton. 


DR.  VAN    HISE.  U'5 

I  may  illustrate:  Out  in  a  little  town  near  Madison.  Cottage 
<irove.  there  is  a  boy  named  Mellish.  <n  a  farm  of  forty  acres.- 
lit-  lias  a  mother,  a  sister  and  an  aged  grandfather.  From  the 
farm  must  come  their  support.  Yet  that  boy  was  so  deeply 
interested  in  astronomy  that  he  made  himself  a  telescope,  and 
after  hi-s  day's  work  is  done  in  the  fields,  and  after  his  chores 
are  dene  at  night,  and  that  means  eight  or  nine  o'clock  in  the 
summer,  he  searches  the  s!<y  with  his  little  telescope.  In  1907 
he  discovered  two  out  of  the  seven  or  eight  comets  that  were 
found  by  all  the  astronomers  of  the  world.  That  boy  must 
continue  to  work  the  farm.  He  cannot  go  to  any  school.  He 
can  only  tind  the  way  through  university  extension.  I  am  hap- 
py  to  say  that  he  is  now  taking  correspondence  courses  in  the 
department  of  mathematics  in  the  University  of  AYiseonsin,  and 
I  am  informed  that  he  is  doing  remarkable  work.  I  anticipate 
that  this  boy  has  a  career  before  him.  He  would  have  been 
buried  by  an  unfavorable  environment  were  it  not  for  this  in- 
strument (  f  education — university  extension. 

Thus  one  of  the  purposes  of  the  university  extension  di- 
vision is  to  find  a  way  for  the  young  man  and  woman  of  talent 
however  hard  may  be  their  environment. 

Another  of  the  great  functions  of  university  extension  is  to 
carry  out  knowledge  to  the  people.  At  the  present  time  we 
know  enough  so  that  if  the  knowledge  were  assimilated  and 
applied  by  the  people  of  this  country  conta-gious  and  infectious 
diseases  could  be  banished  within  a  generation.  At  the  present 
time  the  university  extension  division  has  traveling  over  the 
State  of  Wisconsin  a  tuberculosis  exhibit,  accompanied  by  a 
demonstrator,  who  explains  the  manner  in'  which  a  person  af- 
tlicted  with  the  disease  should  conduct  himself  in  order  to  re- 
cover and  to  prevent  his  spreading  the  disease  to  another.  It 
is  as  clearly  the  function  of  the  State  university  to  carry  out 
knowledge  to  the  people  with  reference  to  sanitation  and  hy- 
giene as  it  is  with  reference  to  advanced  methods  of  agriculture. 

In  this  connection  may  I  read  you  the  story  >  f 


196  CONFERENCE  FOR  EDUCATION. 

THE  YOUNG  MOTHER  AND  THE  FAT  HOG." 
(Not  a  fable;  simply  straight  goods.) 

One  time  a  little  mother,  who  was  only  25  years  old,  began  to 
feel  tired  all  the  time.  Her  appetite  had  failed  her  for  weeks  before 
the  tired  feeling  came.  Her  three  little  girls,  once  a  joy  in  her  life, 
now  became  a  burden  to  her.  It  was  "mamma,  mamma,"  all  day 
long.  She  never  had  noticed  these  appeals  until  the  tired  feeling 
came.  The  little  mother  also  had  red  spots  on  her  cheeks  and  a  slight 
dry  cough.  One  day,  when  dragging  herself  around,  forcing  her 
weary  body  to  work,  she  felt  a  sharp  but  slight  pain  in  her  chest, 
her  head  grew  dizzy,  and  suddenly  her  mouth  filled  with  blood.  The 
hemorrhage  was  not  severe,  but  it  left  her  very  weak.  .  .  .  When 
this  occurred  she  and  all  her  neighbors  knew  she  had  consumption. 

.  .  .  .  Now  she  wrote  to  the  State  board  of  Health  and  said: 
"I  am  told  that  consumption  in  its  early  stages  can  be  cured  by  out- 
door life,  continued  rest  and  plenty  of  plain,  good  food.  I  do  not 
want  to  die.  I  want  to  live  and  raise  my  children  and  make  them 
good  citizens.  Where  can  I  get  well?"  The  reply  was:  "The  great 
Christian  State  of  Indiana  had  not  yet  risen  to  the  mighty  economy 
of  saving  little  mothers  from  consumption.  At  present  the  only  place 
where  you  can  go  is  a  grave.  However,  the  State  will  care  for  your 
children  in  an  orphan  asylum  after  you  are  dead,  and  then  in  a  few 
years  a  special  officer  will  be  paid  to  find  a  home  for  them.  But  save 
your  life — never!  That  is  a  cranky  idea,  for  a  member  on  the  floor 
of  the  sixty-fifth  assembly  said  so."  "Besides,"  said  he.  "It  isn't  busi- 
ness, the  State  can't  afford  it."  So  the  little  mother  dies  of  the  pre- 
ventable and  curable  disease,  the  home  was  broken  up  and  the  children 
were  taken  to  the  orphan  asylum. 


A  big  fat  hog  one  morning  found  that  he  had  a  pain  in  his  belly. 
He  squealed  loudly,  and  the  farmer  came  out  of  his  house  to  see  what 
was  the  matter.  "He's  got  the  hog  cholery,"  said  the  hired  man.  So 
the  farmer  telegraphed  to  Secretary  Wilson  of  U.  S.  Agricultural  De- 
partment (who  said  the  other  day  that  he  had  three  thousand  experts 
in  animal  and  plant  diseases)  and  the  reply  was:  "Cert.,  I'll  send 
you  a  man  right  away."  Sure  enough,  the  man  came.  He  said  he 
.was  a  D.  V.  S.,  and  he-  was,  too.  He  had  a  government  syringe  and  a 
bottle  of  government  medicine  in  his  hand  bag,  and  he  went  for  the 
hog.  It  got  well.  It  wasn't  cranky  for  the  government  to  do  this, 
and  it  could  afford  the  expense,  for  the  hog  could  be  turned  into  ham, 
sausage,  lard  and  bacon. 

Anybody,  even  a  fool.,  can  see  it  would  be  cranky  for  the  State  to 
save  the  life  of  a  little  mother,  and  it  could  not  afford  it,  either. 

MORAL:     Be  a  hog  and  be   worth   saving. 

We  all  a<:n'(>  Ili.-il  tin-  heir  should  be  saved.  AAV  should  elimi- 
nate tubeivulc  sis  from  cattle  and  cholera  from  hens.  We  should 


DR.  VAN   HISE.  197 

* 

destroy  plant   diseases.     But  are  we  becoming  too   progressive 
in  the  universities  if  also  we  save  "just  folks  .'" 

At  the  present  time  there  is  much  talk  of  conservation.  All 
conservation  is  for  humanity.  The  fundamental  problem  is  the 
conservation  of  humanity  itself. 

"We  see  it  is  easy  to  find  work  for  the  State  university.  The 
great  Jefferson,  with  clear  insight  in  education  as  in  politics, 
said:  "The  functions  of  a  university  are  to  harmonize  and 
promote  the  interests  of  agriculture,  manufacturies  and  com- 
merce, and  by  well-informed  views  of  political  economy  to  give 
free  scope  to  public  industry.'' 

This  ideal  has  first  been  fully  realized  by  the  State  univer- 
sity. At  the  present  time  it  may  be  claimed  that  some  North- 
ern State  universities  fuly  meet  this  definition,  and  not  only 
so.  but  have  been  extending  its  scope.  But  vastly  more  remains 
to  be  done  than  has  been  accomplished.  It  is  my  ideal  of  a 
State  university  that  it  should  be  a  beneficent  influence  to  every 
citizen  of  the  State.  Man  does  not  live  by  bread  alone,  and  the 
State  university  fails  of  attaining  its  higher  level  if  into  it  does 
not  deeply  sink  the  consciousness  of  this  old  truth.  It  is  the 
duty  of  the  State  university  to  assist  the  people  in  getting  bread. 
It  is  the  duty  of  the  State  university  to  irive  that  knowledge 
which  will  make  each  one  a  resource  of  joy  to  himself.  .It  is 
the  duty  of  the  Stale  university  to  develop  in  man  the  highest 
intellectual  faculties,  including  the  appreciation  of  philosophy, 
literature  and  art.  It  is  the  duty  of  the  State  university  to 
instill  in  each  of  its  students  a  high  sense  of  responsibility  to 
his  fellows.  As  I  have  elsewhere  said,  the  aim  of  the  State  uni- 
versity should  lie  as  broad  as  human  endeavor  and  as  high  as 
human  inspiration. 

The  opportunity  is  before  us.  If  this  principle  is  not  adopted 
by  the  South  it  will  be  an  immeasurable  loss  to  its  people.  But 
the  State  university  cann<  t  expect  to  receive  support  in  advance 
of  fruitful  work.  If  the  State  university  of  the  South  shall 
conceive  a  broad  and  high  ideal  and  become  the  instrument  of 
the  State  in  upbuilding,  the  State  will  furnish  means  to  carry 
on  work  commensurate  with  its  opportunity. 


At  the  close  of  President  Van  Hise's  address  Mr.  Ogden 
called  on  Dr.  St.  Glair  McKelway.  editor  of  the  Brooklyn  Eagle, 
who  in  happiest  vein  made  the  closinu  speech  of  the  Conference. 


198  CONFERENCE  FOR  EDUCATION. 

•»• 

Prof.  Claxton  did  not  read  his  paper,  but  upon  request 
kindly  handed  it  to  the  Secretary  for  publication. 

P.  P.  CLAXTON. 
A  SCHOOL  FOR  GROWN-UPS. 

In  the  summer  of  1896  I  spent  a  week  at  the  Flors  Hojskole 
at  Askov,  Denmark,  the  first,  and  still  among  the  most  impor- 
tant of  the  Folks  high  schools  of  the  Scandinavian  countries. 
Ever  since  this  visit  I  have  believed  that  the  principles  of  these 
schools  might  easily  be  adapted  and  applied  to  the  educational 
conditions  in  the  South :  and  the  more  I  have  learned  of  these 
schools,  and  the  more  carefully  I  have  studied  the  people  of  the 
South  and  their  needs,  tin.'  more  firmly  am  I  convinced  they 
contain  a  lesson  for  us.  Therefore  I  wish  to  ask  a  few  minutes 
of  your  time  to  tell  you  about  them. 

These  are  not  schools  for  children,  nor  are  they  high  schools 
at  all  in  the  usual  sense  of  that  term.  They  are  short  term 
schools  for  grown-up  men  and  women,  mostly  from  the  farms 
and  rural  villages.  Few  of  the  pupils  are  under  18  years  old. 
Most  of  them  are  from  18  to  25  and  a  good  many  are  still  older 
—from  25  to  40.  In  most  of  them  the  course  of  study  extends 
over  only  one  term ;  five  or  six  months  for  men  in  the  fall,  win- 
ter and  early  spring  and  three  or  four  months  for  women  in 
the  summer.  A  few,  among  them  the  Flors  School  at  Askov, 
now  have  a  second  year,  the  work  of  which  is  more  largely  tech- 
nical than  that  of  the  first.  The  schools  grew  out  of  a  religious, 
patriotic,  democratic  movement,  in  which  N.  F.  S.  Grundtvig 
was  a  prominent  leader.  The  first  was  founded  in  1844  at  Rod- 
ding  in  North  Schleswig  for  the  Danish  speaking  young  men 
and  women  of  that  province.  After  the  war  of  1864  this  school 
was  moved  across  the  border  to  its  present  location  at  Askov, 
near  Veijen.  Christian  Flors,  Professor  of  Danish  at  the  Uni- 
versity of  Kiel,  gave  important  help,  both  in  the  establishment 
and  in  the  reestablishment  of  the  school :  hence  its  name. 

The  purjxse  was  to  found  ;i  school  where  the  young  men 
and  women  nl'  the  people — tluse  who  had  had  the  training 


P.  P.  CLAXTON.  199 

neither  of  the  university  nor  yet  of  the  gymnasium — might  be 
taught  their  mother  tongue  .and  the  best  of  its  literature,  the 
history  of  the  country  and  the  great  events  of  the  history  of  the 
world,  the  duties  of  citizenship  and  a  fervid  but  sane  patriotism 
— "human  nature  and  human  life  in  general  and  to  know  them- 
selves in  particular."  To  this  was  soon  added  practical  instruc- 
tion in  natural  sciences  ,'iid  their  relation  to  the  life  of  the  home, 
the  farm  and  the  shop,  and  practical  elementary  instruction 
in  agriculture,  horticulture,  dairying  and  home-making. 

So  successful  was  this  school  that  schools  like  it  were  so.  n 
established  in  other  parts  of  Denmark  and  in  Norway.  Sweden 
and  Finland.  At  present  there  are  about  seventy-five  such 
schools  in  Denmark  and  about  sixty  in  the  other  Scandinavian 
countries.  There  are  three  in  America — one  in  Nebraska,  one 
in  Minnesota  and  one  in  Iowa.  Though  private  schools,  they 
have  large  subsidies  from  the  State,  both  for  their  own  support 
and  for  bursaries  for  .students".  Many  thousands  of  men  and 
women  have  attendee!  them  and  the  good  th<\v  have  accomplished 
is  incalculable.  Some  of  the  best  informed  men  in  Scandinavia 
attribute  to  them  a  very  large  part  of  the  material  prosperity 
of  these  countries.  The  men  and  women  who  LTO  away  from 
them  soon  beet  me  the  leaders  in  the  cooperative  dairying  so- 
cieties, the  bacon  and  egg  association  and  all  the  similar  organi- 
zations and  movements  for  the  industrial  and  material  improve- 
ment of  their  communities.  They  also  stand  for  better  citizen- 
ship and  higher  and  purer  social  and  moral  ideals.  Nowhere 
else  have  I  seen  a  school  in  which  the  ideals  were  quite  so  high 
and  the  enthusiasm  quite  so  great  as  in  this  school  at  Askov. 
Here,  as  in  the  other  schools  of  this  kind,  the  teachers  are  men 
and  women  of  good  native  ability,  thorough  scholarship  and 
good,  practical  common  sense.  Teaching  is  chiefly  oral  and  at 
first  hand.  Much  is  done  by  personal  contact.  Books  are  used 
only  to  supplement  this  first  hand  teaching.  Little  time  is  spent 
in  carrying  on  correspondence  with  young  men  and  women  in 
the  class  room.  ''Life  and  Light"  and  ''Light  through  Life" 
are  the  watchwords. 

Now  for  the  application  to  our  conditions  and  needs  in  the 


200  CONFERENCE  FOR   EIH'CATION. 

South,  and  especially  to  the  mountains  and  piedmont  sections. 
Here  there  are  many  thousands— some  millions,  in  fact — of 
young  men  and  women  from  18  to  30  or  .'{;">  years  old,  beyond 
the  age  when  they  can  ever  be  reached  through  public  or  pri- 
vate schools  of  the  ordinary  type.  When  they  were  children 
the  South  was  poor,  much  poorer  even  than  now,  the  public 
school  system  was  in  its  infancy  and  there  were  no  public  high 
schools.  So,  most  of  them  have  very  meager  school  education. 
The  majority  can  do  little  more  than  read  and  write.  Yet  they 
are  of  good  Anglo-Saxon,  Scotch-Irish,  German  and  French 
Protestant  blood  and  faith.  They  have  good  native  ability  and 
the  acquired  shrewdness  and  individual  strength  and  self-re- 
liance of  the  pioneer.  They  realize  their  needs  and  are  eager 
to  learn  and  improve  their  condition.  They  live  in  a  country  of 
varied  and  boundless  natural  resources,  but  are  unable  to  con- 
vert their  potential  wealth  into  actual  wealth  and  must  there- 
fore continue  to  live  in  poverty  and  see  their  country  with  its 
fertile  soil,  with  timber  and  mineral  wealth,  its  water  power 
and  its  unsurpassed  climate,  pass  into  the  hands  of  foreign 
capitalists. 

The  only  hope  is  in  the  education  of  the  people,  and  we 
must  begin  with  the  best  of  these  grown-up  men  and  women. 
To  wait  for  a  generation  to  grow  old  and  die  is  a  slow  process, 
too  slow  for  the  pace  of  this  age.  If  we  can  educate  these  they 
will  soon  create  wealth  to  support  schools  for  the  education  of 
their  children,  and  the  mission  field  will  disappear  and  with  it 
the  problem  of  the  mountain  whites  of  the  South. 

I  believe  this  can  be  accomplished  only  through  schools  some- 
what like  these  Folks  high  schools  of  Scandinavia.  These  men 
and  women  will  not  attend  the  ordinary  schools  with  the  chil- 
dren. If  they  should,  they  would  not  be  much  helped  by  them. 
The  long  courses  of  study  in  subjects  only  indirectly  and  re- 
motely related  to  life  are  not  adapted  to  their  need.  The  courses 
of  study  should  be  brief  and  take  direct  hold  on  life.  The 
teaching  should  be  inspirational  and  practical.  It  should  have 
in  view  the  immediate  environment  and  needs  of  the  men  and 
women. 


P.  P.  CLAXTON.  201 

I  would  have  such  a  school  located  at  some  central  point 
easily  accessible  to  the  young  men  and  women  of  a  half  dozen 
or  more  counties.  The  buildings  should  not  be  costly,  but 
plain  and  simple.  They  should,  however,  be  comfortable  and 
attractive.  They  should  have  well  equipped  laboratories  and 
workshops,  plainly  furnished  class  rooms  and  an  assembly  room 
large  enough  to  seat  all  the  students  of  the  school  and  such 
people  of  the  neighborhood  as  could  be  induced  to  attend  the 
lectures  and  entertainments  given  in  it.  It  should  have  a  lan- 
tern and  screen  for  stereopticon  views.  There  should  be  plain 
but  neat  comfortable  dormitories  and  a  dining  hall  large 
enough  to  accommodate  the  students.  The  school  should  have 
a  farm  of  100  or  more  acres,  with  necessary  buildings  for  cattle 
and  horses.  If  there  is  water  power,  so  much  the  better;  and 
better  still,  if  there  can  be  100  acres  or  more  of  wood  land. 
This  farm  should  be  cultivated  intensively.  The  crops  and 
method  of  tilling  should  be  adapted  closely  to  the  character  of 
the  soil  and  the  climate  of  the  section.  It  should  be  a  model 
to  be  studied  by  all  the  farmers  near  it. 

First.  There  should  be  instruction,  mostly  oral,  in  the  Eng- 
lish language  and  literature,  to  give  power  of  expression  and 
the  love  for  good  .books.  The  literature  studied  should  be  for 
inspiration  and  not  for  critical  scholarship.  The  best  things 
should  be  read  aloud  by  the  teacher  at  the  daily  morning  as- 
semblies. The  teacher  of  English  should  be  a  good  reader. 
"When  thus  presented,  men  and  women  who  are  unable  to  read 
for  themselves  may  get  much  of  all  that  is  best  in  such  liter- 
ature. "The  common  people."  said  Goethe,  "have  feeling  for 
the  best  and  greatest,  even  though  they  may  not  fully  under- 
stand it."  And  feeling  for  the  good  is  the  strongest  of  cul- 
tural and  moral  factors. 

Second.  There  should  be  instruction,  largely  oral,  in  the 
important  facts  and  events  in  the  history  of  our  country,  and 
of  the  world,  for  the  purpose  of  cultivating  higher  and  nobler 
ideals  of  life  and  citizenship  and  for  inspiring  true  patriotism, 
a  desire  to  live  and  work  for  the  social  good,  rather  than  for 
selfish  individualistic  interests  and  ends. 


202  CONFERENCE  FOR  EDUCATION. 

The  elementary  principles  of  chemistry,  physics  and  biology 
should  be  taught  in  the  simplest  and  most  practical  manner. 
For  every  fact  and  principle  taught  a  hundred  applications 
should  be  found  on  the  farm,  in  the  shop  and  in  the  home. 

Agriculture,  horticulture,  dairying,  poultry  raising,  fruit 
growing,  work  in  wood  and  iron  should  be  taught.  For  the 
women  there  should  be  practical  instruction  in  home  making- 
cooking,  sewing,  weaving,  household  sanitation,  the  care  of  chil- 
dren and  of  the  sick.  Such  schools  must  of  necessity  be  relig- 
ious in  the  best  sense,  but  they  must  not  be  sectarian. 

Here,  as  elsewhere,  the  teachers  make  the  school.  I  can 
think  of  no  more  important  school  work  than  this,  and  for  it 
should  be  employed  men  and  women  of  strong  native  ability, 
positive  and  aggressive  character,  good  scholarship,  intimate 
knowledge  of  life,  keen  sympathies  and  great,  practical,  com- 
mon sense.  They  should  be  paid  salaries  as  large  as  the  best 
teachers  in  our  high  schools  and  colleges  are  paid. 

Could  one  such  school  be  established  at  a  suitable  place  and 
with  sufficient  means  I  feel  sure  that  it  would  very  soon  prove 
its  usefulness  and  many  others  would  follow.  I  know  of  no 
way  in  which  a  few  thousand  dollars  a  year  might  be  used  to 
better  purpose,  both  for  immediate  and  permanent  results. 
Should  the  matter  be  taken  up  and  help  offered  from  abroad 
I  think  our  own  people  -would  respond  liberally  and  generously 
and  the  local  support  would  become  larger  from  year  to  year. 

I  commend  the  idea  to  the  members  of  this  board  and  to  all 
who  are  interested  in  the  education  and  welfare  of  the  people 
of  the  South,  and  especially  of  the  white  people  of  the  upland 
South. 

HISTORICAL  AND  STATISTICAL  NOTES  ON  THE  SCAN- 
DINAVIAN FOLKS  HIGH  SCHOOLS. 

School  at  Rodding  founded  1844,  moved  to  Askov  in  1864; 
second  year  course  added  in  1878.  Four  of  these  schools  at  the 
time  of  the  Prussian  War  of  1864.  They  sprang  up  rapidly 
after  the  close  of  this  war.  State  support  began  to  increase 
rapidly  after  1866,  and  was  doubled  in  1892  and  has  increased 


P.  P.   Cl.AXTON.  203 

largely  since  then.  There  are  now  75  such  schools  in  Denmark 
and  about  70  of  them  receive  State  aid.  About  half  have  tech- 
nical work  in  agriculture,  etc.  Some  purely  technical  schools 
have  been  founded  on  this  model.  In  1905  there  were  twelve 
technical  agricultural  and  one  horticultural  school. 

In  190.3-4:  there  were  3.151  men  and  3.1SG  women  at  these 
high  schools  in  Denmark,  and  1.057  men  and  7  women  at  the 
agricultural  school  and  horticultural  schools.  Up  to  1905  it  is 
estimated  150.000  men  and  women  have  passed  through  these 
schools.  About  16 '7  of  all  the  men  and  women  between  20  and 
50  years  old  engaged  in  agriculture.  Nearly  all  these  men  and 
women  have  come  from  the  country.  Of  the  7.390  pupils  in  the 
schools  in  1904  only  419  were  from  towns. 

L'' suits:  Greater  productiveness  in  industries:  progress  in 
religions  freedom:  wider,  deeper  and  more  intelligent  interest 
in  government  of  country,  and  better  citizenship. 

Ninety  per  cent  <f  the  m,  important  em- 

ployes of  the  Cooperative  Dairying  Association  and  butter  fac- 
tories have  been  trained  in  these  schools  i  about  1,000  in  the 
cooperative  dairies  and  275  in  the  butter  factories  .  About  the 
same  per  cent  in  the  twenty-eight  Cooperative  bacon  societies 
and  the  Cooperative  Egg  Society,  with  its  400  affiliated  societies. 
In  1881  the  net  export  of  butter,  bacon  and  eggs  was  $12.000.- 
000  -.  in  1904  it  v,  -i  i.  The  exodus  from  the  country 

to  the  city  is  less  than  in  other  countries.  Thirty  per  cent  of 
the  members  of  the  Danish  Parliament  have  passed  through 
these  schools. 

The  first  Folks  High  School  in  Norway  was  established  in 
1864.  In  1900  there  were  634  students  in  the  Folks  high  schools 
in  this  country. 

The  first  Folks  High  School  in  Sweden  was  established  in 
1868  -.  in  1905  there  were  30  such  schools  in  Sweden  and  31,480 
students  had  passed  through  them  and  3.552  had  taken  the  two 
years'  course,  the  second  year  being  devoted  almost  entirely  to 
technical  subjects,  dairying,  farming,  forestry,  etc. 

The  first  school  was  established  in  Finland  in  18S9.  In  1905 
there  were  23. 


204  CONFERENCE  FOR  EDUCATION. 


SPECIAL  CONFERENCES  AWD  INCIDENTAL  EVENTS. 


The  Association  of  Southern  State  Superintendents  of  Edu- 
cation met  in  special  conference  at  the  Piedmont  Hotel  on  Wed- 
nesday, April  14,  at  10  a.m.,  Supt.  J.  Y.  Joyner,  of  North 
Carolina,  presiding.  The  following  Superintendents  were 
present :  II.  C.  Gunnels,  Alabama  ;  George  B.  Cook,  Arkansas ; 
W.  M.  Halloway,  Florida;  Jere  M.  Pound,  Georgia;  T.  H.  Har- 
ris, Louisiana;  J.  N.  Powers,  Mississippi;  J.  Y.  Joyner,  North 
Carolina;  J.  E.  Swearingen,  South  Carolina;  R.  L.  Jones,  Ten- 
nessee; J.  D.  Eggleston,  Virginia;  ex-Superintendent  Thomas  C. 
Miller,  West  Virginia.  The  election  of  officers  resulted  in  con- 
tinuing J.  Y.  Joyner  as  President  and  J.  N.  Powers  as  Secretary 
for  the  ensuing  year. 

The  State  Supervisors  of  the  Woman's  School  Improvement 
Work  in  the  Southern  States  met  in  special  conference  at  the 
Piedmont  Hotel  Wednesday,  April  14,  at  10  a.  m.,  P.  P.  Claxton 
presiding.  The  following  supervisors  participated  in  the  con- 
ference: Mrs.  B.  B.  Munford,  Virginia;  Mrs.  Charles  D.  Mc- 
Iver,  North  Carolina;  Miss  Mary  T.  Nance,  South  Carolina; 
Mrs.  Walter  B.  Hill,  Georgia;  Miss  Susie  V.  Powell,  Mississippi; 
Miss  Agnes  Morris,  Louisiana ;  Mrs.  Clio  Harper,  Arkansas ; 
Miss  Virginia  P.  Moore,  Tennessee ;  Mrs.  Thames,  Alabama.  The 
reports  of  the  supervisors  made  an  inspiring  story  of  the  work 
of  the  State  associations  with  organization  in  the  State,  the 
county,  the  local  center.  The  interest  of  the  conference  cen- 
tered in  the  improvement  of  the  country  school,  in  making  the 
school  the  center  of  community  life  where  teachers,  pupils  and 
parents  become  educated  by  doing  things  together. 

There  was  a  special  conference  of  the  campaign  managers 
for  the  Southern  States  at  the  Piedmont  Hotel  Thursday,  April 
15,  at  3:15  p.  m..  P.  P.  Claxton  presiding.  The  following  cam- 
paign managers  for  the  several  States  were  present :  J.  Y.  Joy- 
ner, North  Carolina;  Henry  E.  Fries,  North  Carolina;  0.  B. 


SPECIAL  CONFERENCES  AND  INCIDENTAL  EVENTS.          205 

.  South  Carolina:  AY.  II.  Hand,  South  Carolina;  Jen-  M. 
Pound,  Georgia-  Mrs.  Walter  B.  Hill,  Georgia:  II.  C.  Gunnels, 
Alabama;  B.  J.  Baldwin.  Alabama  :  R.  L.  Jones,  Tennessee;  S.  G. 
Gil  breath,  Tennessee:  P.  P.  Claxton,  Tennessee;  James  B.  As- 
well.  Louisiana;  T.  H.  Harris.  Louisiana:  J.  X.  Powers.  Missis- 
sippi; P.  H.  Saunders,  Mississippi;  George  B.  Cook,  Arkansas; 
D.  B.  Johnson,  South  Carolina;  T.  C.  Miller,  West  Virginia. 
The  conference  was  called  to  consider  plans  for  the  educational 
campaigns  for  the  ensuing  year. 

The  Southern  Association  of  College  Women  held  two  meet- 
ings—Thursday. April  15,  3:15  p.m..  in  the  Assembly  Room 
of  the  Auditorium,  and  Friday,  April  16,  3:15  p.m.  in  the 
rooms  of  the  Atlanta  Woman's  Club.  The  meetings  were  well 
attended.  In  addition  to  a  word  of  greeting  from  Mrs.  John 
King  Ottley,  speaking  for  the  club  women  of  Atlanta,  and  from 
Miss  Emily  Me  Yea.  Dr.  Lillian  W.  Johnson,  Miss  Celeste  Parish, 
representing  the  founders  of  the  association,  the  following  sub- 
jects were  discussed:  "The  Physical  Betterment  of  School 
Children."  by  Miss  Edith  II owe.  Chairman  Committee  on  Phys- 
ical Welfare  of  School  Children.  National  Congress  of  Mothers; 
"A  Plan  for  Concerted  Work  in  Education  by  the  Club  Women 
of  Five  National  Organizations."  by  Dr.  Laura  Drake  Gill, 
President  of  the  Asscciation  of  Collegiate  Alumni;  "Illiteracy 
and  Compulsory  School  Attendance  Laws/'  by  Dr.  Elmer  Ells- 
worth Brown,  United  States  Commissioner  of  Education.  Presi- 
dent of  the  association.  Mrs.  Emma  (iarrett  Boyd,  Atlanta; 
Secretary-Treasurer  Miss  Eula  Denton.  San  Antonio. 

Friday  afternoon  was  set  apart  for  special  State  meetings. 
The  meetings  for  all  the  States  save  Ccnrgia  were  provided  for 
in  the  Boys'  High  School  Building.  The  Georgia  Conference 
for  Education  met  in  the  Assembly  Room  of  the  Auditorium. 
This  Georgia  Conference  represented  the  united  interests  and 
efforts  of  the  teaching  profession,  the  club  women,  the  farmers' 
union,  the  labor  unions  and  the  business  men  of  the  State.  The 
conference  adopted  a  definite  educational  program  for  the  State ; 
appointed  a  committee  of  fifteen  to  cooperate  with  the  com- 


206  ('OXKKRKXCK     FOR     KlMVATlOX. 

inittee  of  one  hundred  business  men  which  was  to  he  called  in 
Atlanta  at  an  early  date,  and  began  the  raising  of  $6,000  as  a 
fund  with  which  to  begin  an  active  campaign  for  the  program 
adopted. 

A  delightful  social  feature  of  the  Conference  was  a  recep- 
tion given  to  the  delegates  at  Agnes  Scott  Institute  on  the  af- 
ternoon of  Wednesday,  April  14.  Members  of  the  Conference 
went  out  in  private  cars,  escorted  by  the  chairman  of  the  local 
committees  and  a  committee  of  Atlanta  ladies.  In  halls  beau- 
tifully decorated  for  the  occasion  with  a  profusion  of  honey- 
suckle, dogwood  and  potted  plants  the  faculty  and  students 
of  the  college  received  and  entertained  the  members  and  friends 
of  the  Conference  Avith  generous  hospitality.  After  a  delightful 
social  hour  special  cars  brought  the  party  to  the  hotel  in  time 
for  the  evening  program. 

On  Thursday  at  1  o'clock  Mrs.  Emma  Garrett  Boyd  enter- 
tained the  visiting  delegates  of  the  Southern  Association  of  Col- 
lege Women  at  a  buffet  luncheon.  The  guest  list  included  Mr. 
Ogden  and  his  party  and  the  speakers  on  the  Conference 
program. 

An  event  long  to  be  remembered  Avas  the  reception  to  the 
Conference  at  Piedmont  Driving  Club  on  Thursday  afternoon 
at  5  o'clock.  The  hosts  of  the  occasion  Avere  the  local  commit- 
tees, the  chairmen  of  these  being  Mr.  J.  K.  Orr.  Mi-.  S.  M.  In- 
man,  Mr.  John  King  Ottley,  Mr.  J.  J.  Eagan.  Mrs.  Robert 
Emory  Park,  Mr.  Ottley,  Chairman  of  the  Entertainment  Com- 
mittee, received  the  gnests  as  they  entered  the  ballroom  and 
directed  them  to  the  end  of  the  room,  Avhere  Mr.  Orr  and  Mr. 
Inman  stood  Avith  Mr.  Ogden  at  the  head  of  the  receiving  line. 
After  the  guests  had  assembled  Mr.  Orr.  stepping  to  the  center 
of  the  room.  Avel corned  Mr.  Ogden  to  the  club,  referred  in  ap- 
propriate words  to  his  service  to  education  in  the  South,  and 
presented  him  Avith  a  handsome  silver  loving  cup.  The  cup 
was  given  by  the  local  committees.  It  was  lilled  Avith  (ieorgia 
,seuppernong  Avine  and  bore  this  inscription:  '"In  token  of  af- 


SPECIAL  CONFERENCES  AND  INCIDENTAL  EVENTS.          207 

fectionate  recognition  of  the  years  of  personal  service,  by  means 
of  which  the  educational  activities  of  the  Southern  States  have 
heen  organized,  systematized  and  developed."  Mr.  Ogden's 
reply  expressed  in  happy  phrase  the  feeling  of  appreciation  in 
which  all  members  of  the  Conference  shared.  On  the  terrace 
the  four  hundred  or  more  guests,  seated  in  groups  of  six  and 
eight  around  tables,  were  served  with  refreshments. 

On  Saturday  morning  after  the  close  of  the  Conference  Mr. 
Ogden  and  his  party  left  Atlanta  for  a  visit  to  the  Berry  School. 
At  Rome  private  conveyances  met  the  train  to  take  the  party 
to  the  school  about  two  miles  in  the  country.  The  day  was  spent 
visiting  the  class  rooms,  the  shops,  the  dairy,  the  garden,  the 
farm,  seeing  the  activities  by  which  one  hundred  and  fifty  moun- 
tain boys  are  being  educated.  The  day  completed  the  program 
of  the  Conference,  which  had  been  devoted  to  the  interests  of 
country  life. 


208  CONFERENCE  FOR  EDUCATION. 


EDUCATIONAL  TOUR  OF  THE  ASSOCIATION   OF   SOUTHERN   STATE 

Sl  I'ERINTENDENTS  OF  PuHLIC  INSTRUCTION, 

OCTOBER,  190S. 

Through  the  courtesy  <,!'  .Mr.  Robert  C.  Ogden  ;ind  the  South- 
ern Education  Board  the  members  of  the  Association  of  South- 
ern State  Superintendents  of  Public  Instruction  were  afforded 
the  opportunity  of  visiting  and  inspecting  the  schools  of  New 
York  City  and  Boston  and  of  examining  the  work  of  the  State 
Department  of  Education  at  Albany,  New  York,  in  October, 
1908. 

By  special,  invitation  J.  B.  Aswell,  retiring  State  Superin- 
tendent of .  Louisiana ;  Wickliffe  Rose,  General  Agent  of  the 
Peabody  Fund;  P.  P.  Claxton,  Chairman  of  the  Campaign  Com- 
mittee of  the  Southern  Education  Board,  were  present  and  ac- 
companied the  Southern  State  Superintendents  011  their  itin- 
erary. Mr.  Robert  C.  Ogden  also  accompanied  the  party 

throughout  the  itinerary  and  proved  an  ideal  host. 

i 

October  12  and  13  were  spent  in  visiting  Teachers'  College 
of  Columbia  University,  the  City  College  of  New  York  and  the 
public  schools  of  Greater  New  York,  including  the  normal 
schools  of  the  city.  October  15  and  16  were  devoted  to  a  visit 
to  Harvard  University  and  the  Boston  public  schools.  October 
17  was  spent  in  examining  the  work  of  the  New  York  State  De- 
partment of  Education  at  Albany. 

The  party  Avas  cordially  welcomed  and  delightfully  enter- 
tained everywhere  and  given  every  opportunity  to  observe  and 
study  the  work  in  the  schools  visited.  The  Superintendents 
made  a  special  study  of  teacher-training  and  industrial  work. 

"At  the  close  of  the  itinerary  it  was  the  unanimous  verdict 
of  the  Southern  State  Superintendents  that  they  had  derived 
incalculable  inspiration  and  information  Tor  the  educational 
work  of  their  respective  States  from  this  study  at  first  hand 
and  this  observation  in  the  concrete  of  the  best  work  of  some 
of  the  best  schools  of  New  York  and  Massachusetts. 


SUPT.  JOYNER'S  ADDRESS.  209 

I  !on.  J.  Y.  Joyner's  address  at  the  dinner  to  the  Southern 
State  Superintendents  at  the  Waldorf-Astoria  on  the  evening 
of  October  13,  1908 : 

HOW   THE    SorTIIKKX     KniCATInX    BOARD   HAS    HELPED 

AND  CAN  HELP  THE  SOUTH. 

The  Southern  Education  Board  lias  been  unique  in  its  origin, 
its  organization  and  its  work.  Born  of  a  manifest  need  out 
of  a  high  impulse  to  serve,  held  together  by  the  cohesive  power 
of  a  fine  unselfishness,  instinctively  directed  by  the  irresistible 
impulse  of  a  patriotic  aim.  The  ways  in  which  it  has  helped 
the  South  in  her  heroic  struggle  for  the  equality  of  opportunity 
through  universal  education  cannot  be  expressed  in  matter- 
moulded  forms  of  speed)  or  measured  by  visible  material  stand- 
ards. I  can  but  touch  upon  the  outer  margin  of  a  few  of  its 
distinctive  spheres  of  work. 

My  mind  turns  first  to  the  Annual  Conferences  for  Educa- 
tion in  the  South  held  under  its  auspices.  What  a  goodly  com- 
pany of  men  and  women  have  gathered  in  these  conferences  on 
Southern  soil  from  year  to  year!  On  what  high  purpose  bent, 
in  what  noble  union  bound!  Teacher  and  preacher,  lawyer  and 
author,  publicist  and  statesman,  scholar  and  dreamer,  banker 
and  business  man.  representatives  of  every  section,  every  pur- 
suit, every  phase  of  honest  thought,  have  met  here  in  a  com- 
mon forum  for-  the  discussion  of  a  common  theme,  to  take  coun- 
sel together  as  a  patriotic  brotherhood  for  the  attainment  of  a 
common  end.  the  performance  of  a  common  task,  the  uplifting 
of  a  common  people  to  a  higher  plane  of  citizenship  and  service. 
Who  can  measure  the  benediction  of  such  a  gathering — the  play 
and  interplay  of  forces  — intellectual,  moral,  social,  spiritual; 
the  flow  and  interflow  of  knowledge  and  inspiration:  the  broad- 
ening of  horizon :  the  quickening  of  sympathy :  the  correction  of 
misconceptions  and  misunderstandings;  the  clearer  vision  and 
stronger  grasp  of  social,  racial,  educational,  industrial  and 
economic  problems:  the  recognition  of  these  as  national,  not 
tional.  calling  for  sympathetic  cooperation  instead  of  cold  criti- 
cism :  the  mind  fervent,  the  soul  glow,  the  encouragement,  the 


210  CONFERENCE  FOR  EDUCATION. 

hope,  the  help,  the  sweet  associations,  the  warm  friendships, 
the  genial  companionships !  That  these  gatherings  have  helped 
South  and  North  to  a  better  understanding  of  each  other,  to  a 
clearer  apprehension  of  each  other's  problems,  to  a  keener  ap- 
preciation of  each  other's  tasks,  to  a  readier  acceptance  of  the 
inseparableness  of  each  other's  destinies. 

That  they  have  helped  to  forge  a  new  link  to  bind  the  Nation 
in  a  stronger  bond  of  patriotic  love,  to  give  a  new  impulse  to 
that  spirit  of  tolerance  and  charity  between  brethren  of  a  com- 
mon land,  no  one  who  has  fallen  under  the  spell  of  their  sweet 
influence  can  doubt. 

No  part  of  the  work  of  the  Southern  Education  Board  has 
been  more  helpful  and  more  immediately  fruitful  of  good  re- 
sults and  far-reaching  influences  than  the  annual  conferences 
of  the  Southern  State  Superintendents  of  Public  Instruction 
held,  with  the  cooperation  of  this  board,  in  connection  with  the 
Conference  for  Education  in  the  South.  Every  Southern  State 
Superintendent  belongs  to  this  Association  (of  Southern  State 
Superintendents)  and  has  attended  its  meetings  every  year, 
unless  providentially  hindered.  In  these  meetings,  these  men 
who  are  at  the  head  of  the  educational  work  of  the  Southern 
States  and  in  whose  hands  have  largely  been  the  shaping  of  the 
educational  systems  of  these  States,  have  had  an  opportunity 
to  meet  each  other,  to  know  each  other's  work,  to  profit  by 
each  other's  successes,  to  be  warned  by  each  other's  failures, 
to  assimilate  and  imitate  the  best  in  each  other's  experience, 
to  catch  the  fire  of  each  other's  enthusiasm,  to  feel  the  strength 
of  a  unity  of  purpose  and  the  bond  of  a  community  of  interest. 
In  this  way,  each  has  been  able  to  enter  quickly  into  the  life  and 
labor  of  all,  to  catch  at  once  the  far  off3  interest  of  years. 

Through  a  campaign  fund,  generously  contributed  by  pa- 
triotic Americans,  wisely  administered  by  a  campaign  commit- 
tee under  the  general  direction  of  the  State  Superintendents 
of  Public  Instruction  of  the  Southern  States,  the  Southern  Edu- 
cation Board  has  rendered  most  efficient  aid  in  carrying  on 
throughout  the  South  an  almost  continuous  campaign  of  edu- 
cation for  education  by  press  and  pamphlet  and  speaker.  By 


SUPT.  JOYNER'S  ADDRESS.  211 

having  at  their  disposal  an  independent  fund  of  this  sort  the 
State  Superintendents  have  been  free  to  do  much  needful  and 
effective  work,  the  means  for  which  could  not  well  have  been 
provided  out  of  public  funds  without  harmful  criticism,  and 
have  been  able  to  utilize  efficient  forces  without  political  com- 
plication. 

Back  of  all  progress,  civic  and  educational,  in  every  republic 
lie  informed  public  opinion  and  quickened  public  conscience. 
The  people  at  last  should  rule  and  will  rule.  Sooner  or  later, 
in  every  government  like  ours  every  mighty  issue  must  be  taken 
for  final  decision  to  the  bar  of  public  opinion.  Back  of  all  the 
progress  that  has  been  made  during  the  past  decade  in  public 
education  in  the  South,  the  story  of  which  will  some  day  read 
like  a  splendid  romance,  lies  this  appeal  to  Caesar,  this  appeal 
to  the  sovereign  people. 

This  campaign  fund  has  furnished  the  leaders  of  the  move- 
ment for  educational  progress  in  the  various  Southern  States 
the  means  at  the  critical  moment  to  unite  and  organize  separate 
and  unorganized  forces  and  concentrate  them  in  a  common  ef- 
fort for  the  improvement  of  educational  conditions  through  the 
cultivation  of  public  opinion  and  the  increase  of  public  revenue. 
The  women  have  been  organized  into  school  improvement  asso- 
ciations and  set  to  work  to  help  transform  uncleanness  into 
cleanness,  discomfort  into  comfort,  ugliness  into  beauty,  hovels 
into  school  homes  where  children  may  be  trained  under  proper 
environment  to  right  ideals  of  living  and  of  life.  The  plain 
people  in  the  remotest  rural  districts  have  had  the  gospel  of 
education  preached  to  them  face  to  face  by  earnest  souls  and 
have  been  persuaded  to  provide  more  money,  by  voting  more 
taxes,  to  -have  longer  terms  and  better  houses,  better  teachers 
and  better  schools,  to  give  their  children  a  better  chance  to  be 
somebody  and  to  do. something  in  the  world.  Southern  teach- 
ers have  been  gathered  together  in  great  summer  schools  for 
stimulative  association  with  each  other  and  with  the  mighty 
masters  of  their  profession,  and  have  gone  back  to  their  fields 
of  work  with  minds  and  hearts  filled  with  a  new  hope  and  a  new 
light  to  set  up  a  new  standard  for  the  most  delicate  and  diffi- 
cult work  committed  to  mortal  hands. 


212  CONFERENCE  FOR  EDUCATION. 

Aided  by  these  organized  civic,  educational  and  professional 
forces,  under  the  wise  leadership  of  a  few  earnest  souls  in  every 
Southern  State  passivity  has  been  changed  into  activity;  publip 
opinion  has  been  crystallized  into  public  action,  public  revenues 
for  public  education  have  been  largely  increased  by  public  tax- 
ation, in  some  States  doubled  and  quadrupled  in  a  brief  decade; 
modern,  comfortable  public  schoolhouses  have  been  springing 
up  in  rural  districts  throughout  the  South,  in  some  States  at 
the  fabulous  rate  of  more  than  one  a  day  for  every  day  in  the 
year;  rural  libraries,  containing  thousands  of  volumes  of  the 
choicest  literature,  have  been  established  in  thousands  of  rural 
schools,  opening  to  children  of  thousands  of  bookless  homes  the 
intellectual  and  spiritual  treasure  houses  of  the  ages;  hundreds 
of  men,  heeding  the  cry  of  the  children,  have  voluntarily  voted 
out  of  their  ^wealth  and  out  of  their  poverty  additional  burdens 
of  taxation  on  themselves  for  the  children's  sake. 

The  forgotten  man  has  been  remembered;  the  forgotten 
woman  has  been  discovered;  the  forgotten  child  shall  have  his 
full  chance  in  the  South  at  last,  thank  God.  These  are  stirring 
times  in  the  dear  old  South.  Dream  is  changing  into  realiza- 
tion, promise  into  fulfillment,  flower  into  fruit.  What  joy  to 
live  in  such  times,  among  such  people,  in  such  a  land !  What 
privilege  to  have  been  accorded  some  small  part  in  such  a  work ! 
What  inspiration  to  know  that  we  are  still  but  standing  on  the 
undone  margin  of  a  work  immeasurably  vaster! 

The  Southern  Education  Board  has  asked  and  been  granted 
the  joy  and  privilege  of  helping  the  South  to  help  herself  to  do 
their  glorious  work.  For  the  help  thus  rendered,  no  generous 
Southern  soul,  conscious  of  the  motive  that  prompted  it  and  of 
the  delicacy  that  directed  it,  can  but  feel  grateful  and  appre- 
ciative. The  men  of  the  South  directing  its  educational  work 
are  too  high-souled  a  breed  to  have  accepted  help  from  any 
source  as  a  charity;  the  men  of  both  the  North  and  the  South 
that  constitute  the  Southern  Education  Board  and  its  support- 
ers are  too  high-souled  a  breed  to  have  offered  it  as  a  charity. 
One  has  helped,  not  for  the  sake  of  the  South,  but  for  the  sake 
of  the  Nation;  the  other  has  accepted,  not  for  the  sake  of  the 


EDUCATIONAL  TOUR.  213 

South,  but  for  the  sake  of  the  Nation.  Surely  brethren  may 
help  brethren  in  the  performance  of  a  common  duty  to  brethren 
without  sacrifice  of  pride  or  principle,  and  with  joy  and  profit 
to  both.  "When  with  the  help  they  offer  "the  heart  outstretches 
its  eager  palms,''  a  God  goes  with  it  and  makes  it  store  to  the 
soul  that  was  starving  before. 

I  have  no  time  to  speak  of  how  the  Southern  Education 
Board  can  help  the  South;  nor  would  it,  I  think,  be  profitable 
to  discuss  at  this  time  its  future  work;  better  leave  that  to  the 
calmer  and  more  careful  consideration  of  the  wise  and  patriotic 
men  that  constitute  the  board.  I  shall  content  myself  with  sug- 
gesting only  that,  whatever  else  may  be  done,  the  time  has  not 
yet  come  for  the  abandonment  of  the  conferences,  the  campaign, 
the  round  tables  of  Southern  Superintendents,  the  civic  organi- 
zations and  the  school  improvement  work. 

And  now  I  should  wrong  myself  and  wrong  you  all  if,  in 
conclusion,  in  the  name  of  all  present,  living  and  dead,  I  did 
not  invoice  health,  happiness  and  long  life  upon  the  good  gray 
head,  that  knightly  soul  who  through  all  the  years  has  sat  at 
the  head  of  our  "Table  Round''  and  soldered  all  in  goodliest 
fellowship. 


YORK,  October  31,  1908. 
To  tlte  Me  tubers  of  the  Soi'thern  Education  Board: 

You  will  be  interested  to  know  that  the  plan  for  a  meeting 

of  the  Association  of  Superintendents  of  Education  in  the  South, 

to  be  convened  in  New  York  City  and  remain  continuously  in 

'ii  during  a  journey  to  Boston  and  Albany,  has  been  suc- 

cessfully carried  out. 

All  the  Superintendents  except  Mr.  Eggleston,  of  Virginia, 
who  was  detained  by  the  illness  of  himself  and  wife,  and  Mr. 
Cameron,  of  Oklahoma,  who  found  it  inconvenient  to  attend, 
were  present.  The  following  were  in  attendance  : 

J.  Y.  Joyner,  Raleigh,  X.  C. 

0.  B.  Martin,  Columbia,  S.  C. 

J.  M.  Pound,  Atlanta,  Ga. 

J.  II.  Harris,  Baton  Rouge,  La. 


214  CONFERENCE  FOR  EDUCATION. 

R.  L.  Jones,  Nashville,  Term. 
G.  B.  Cook,  Little  Rock,  Ark. 
J.  N.  Powers,  Jackson,  Miss. 
H.  G.  Gunnells,  Montgomery,  Ala. 
J.  G.  Crabbe,  Frankfort.  Ky. 
W.  M.  Holloway,  Tallahassee,  Fla. 
R.  B.  Cousins,  "Austin,  Texas. 
J.  G.  Miller,  Charleston,  W.  Va. 
J.  B.  Aswell,  Baton  Rouge,  La. 

The  entire  company  were  assembled  and  dined  together  on 
the  evening  of  Sunday,  the  llth  instant. 

Monday  the  12th  instant  was  devoted  to  a  visit  to  the  Horace 
Mann  School  and  Teachers  College,  with  luncheon  as  the  guests 
of  Dean  J.  E.  Russell,  and  a  visit  to  the  College  of  the  City  of 
New  York  by  invitation  of  President  John  H.  Finley.  On  the 
evening  of  Monday  a  group  of  friends  dined  with  the  Super- 
intendents at  the  Waldorf-Astoria. 

Tuesday  the  13th  instant  was  given  to  a  visit  to  the  Girls' 
Normal  School  in  Brooklyn  and  the  Commercial  High  School 
under  the  guidance  of  Dr.  W.  H.  Maxwell.  In  the  evening  the 
entire  company  dined  together  at  the  City  Club  and  enjoyed 
a  social  evening. 

The  morning  of  Wednesday  the  14th  instant  was  passed  un- 
der the  direction  of  Dr.  Maxwell  in  visits  to  schools  in  the  East 
Side  district  of  Manhattan.  At  1  o'clock  the  company  pro- 
ceeded to  Boston. 

The  morning  of  Thursday  the  15th  was  occupied  with  a 
visit  to  Harvard  University,  concluding  with  a  luncheon  as 
guests  of  Mr.  James  J.  Storrow  at  the  Harvard  Union.  The 
afternoon  was  passed  in  an  historical  excursion  to  Lexington 
and  Concord,  a  visit  to  the  graves  of  Hawthorne,  Emerson, 
Thoreau,  the  Alcots,  and  the  late  Senator  Hoar,  with  a  dinner 
at  Mr.  Storrow 's  country  house  on  the  way  back  to  Boston.  The 


EDUCATIONAL  TOUR.  215 

day  closed  with  an  important  and  interesting  meeting  of   the 
Superintendents. 

Friday  the  16th  instant  was  passed :  First,  by  a  visit  to  the 
office  of  the  Massachusetts  State  Commission  upon  industrial 
education ;  second,  by  visits  to  public  schools  of  every  grade 
serving  all  classes  of  the  people;  third,  by  visits  to  the  Com- 
mercial High  School  and  the  Girls'  Normal  School;  fourth,  by 
a  luncheon  at  the  Exchange  Club  as  guests  of  Mr.  Storrow.  At 
a  late  hour  in  the  afternoon  the  party  proceeded  to  Albany. 

Saturday  the  17th  instant.  The  entire  time  from  10  a.  m. 
to  1  p.  m.  was  expended  upon  an  examination  of  the  New  York 
State  Department  of  Education.  A  careful  analysis  of  the  de- 
partment had  been  prepared  in  advance  by  order  of  Dr.  Draper, 
the  Commissioner,  and  a  copy  furnished  to  each  of  the  party. 
In  his  absence  his  three  assistants  were  most  assiduous  in  atten- 
tion to  every  detail  that  would  make  the  visit  instructive  and 
profitable.  Before  leaving  for  New  York  the  party  was  enter- 
tained at  luncheon  by  the  assistant  superintendents,  Dr.  Draper 
arriving  by  train  from  the  West  in  season  to  join  the  company 
at  the  table. 

In  the  evening  the  State  Superintendents  held  a  meeting. 
It  is  a  matter  of  much  regret  that  limitations  of  time  forbade 
various  visits  planned,  especially  by  Dr.  Maxwell,  to  several 
very  interesting  and  important  schools.  This  merely  mechanical 
statement  of  the  plan  conveys  no  idea  of  the  spiritual  and  in- 
tellectual importance  that  marked  each  step  of  the  entire  move- 
ment. The  success  is  due  to  the  cooperation  of  many  sympa- 
thetic friends.  Prominent  among  them  are  the  following: 

Dean  J.  E.  Russell  and  the  faculty  of  Teachers  College  and 
the  Horace  Mann  School ;  President  John  H.  Finley  and  the 
faculty  of  the  College  of  the  City  of  New  York ;  Dr.  W.  H.  Max- 
well, Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction  in  New  York  City; 
James  J.  Storrow,  Overseer  of  Harvard  University  and  Presi- 
dent Boston  School  Board;  Prof.  Paul  H.  Hanus,  head  of  De- 
partment of  Education  in  Harvard  University,  and  head  of  the 


216  CONFERENCE  FOR  EDUCATION. 

Massachusetts  Commission  upon  industrial  education;  Prof.  F. 
G.  Peabody,  head  of  Department  of  Ethics  in  Harvard  Univer- 
sity. Prof.  S.  D.  Brooks,  Superintendent  Boston  Public  Schools ; 
Dr.  A.  S.  Draper,  Commissioner  of  Education  for  the  State  of 
New  York,  and  his  assistants,  Dr.  Augustus  S.  Downing,  Dr. 
Frank  Rollins,  Thomas  E.  Finegan,  Esq. 

The  thanks  of  the  board  are  due  to  each  and  all  of  the  above- 
named  for  their  cordial  assistance. 

From  the  many  expressions  of  appreciation  coming  to  me 
by  every  mail,  I  quote  the  following  from  a  letter  of  the  Hon. 
J.  Y.  Joyner,  of  North  Carolina,  President  of  the  Association 
of  Superintendents,  as  voicing  the  sentiments  of  all  his  asso- 
ciates : 

"Since  my  return  I  have  had  time  to  review  calmly  our  entire 
itenerary  and  reflect  upon  what  we  observed  and  learned.  It  is  my 
deliberate  conviction,  and  I  believe  it  to  have  been  the  unanimous 
verdict  of  the  Southern  Superintendents,  expressed  privately,  and  in 
their  last  meeting  at  the  Seymour  Hotel,  Saturday  night,  that  this 
opportunity  to  inspect  the  best  in  two  of  the  best  public  school  sys- 
tems of  this  country,  and  to  look  into  the  organization  of  perhaps 
the  best  organized  State  system  in  the  United  States,  will  result  in 
more  practical  help  in  the  development  of  the  school  systems  in  their 
respective  States,  and  be  more  far-reaching  in  its  influence  upon  the 
future  educational  progress  of  those  States,  than  almost  any  other 
opportunity  that  has  yet  been  afforded  them  through  the  kindness  and 
generosity  of  the  Southern  Education  Board." 

Respectfully  submitted,  ROBERT  C.  OGDEN,  Chairman. 


EDUCATIONAL  TOUR.  217 

• 

RESOLUTIONS  ADOPTED  BY   THE  ASSOCIATION. 

THE  HOTEL  SEYMOUR. 
NEW  YORK  CITY.  October  17,  1908. 

Be  it  resolved — First:  That  we,  the  Superintendents  of  Educa- 
tion of  the  Southern  States,  express  to  the  Southern  Education  Board 
our  sincere  thanks  and  hearty  appreciation  for  their  generosity  in 
affording  us  the  rare  opportunity  to  visit  the  various  schools  and 
observe  the  educational  conditions  of  New  York  City  and  Boston,  and 
to  inspect  the  State  Department  of  Education  of  New  York  and  Albany. 

Second:  That  we  assure  the  board  that  we  have  derived  therefrom 
much  information  and  inspiration  and  many  practical  and  helpful 
suggestions  that  will  prove  serviceable  to  us  in  our  work  in  our  re- 
spective States. 

Third:  That  we  deeply  appreciate  the  uniform  kindness  and 
courtesy  shown  us  everywhere  by  teachers,  school  officials  and  other 
citizens. 

Fourth:  That  we  convey  to  Mr.  Robert  C.  Ogden  one  more  assur- 
ance of  our  appreciation  of  his  interest  in  our  work,  an  appreciation 
born  of  the  profound  esteem  of  each  of  us  for  this  additional  evidence 
of  his  interest  in  our  people  and  of  a  patriotism  that  is  bounded  by 
no  section. 

Fifth:  That  we  thank  Mr.  Ogden  most  cordially  for  his  personal 
interest  in  arranging  and  conducting  this  educational  itinerary. 


218  CONFERENCE  FOR  EDUCATION. 


TREASURER'S  REPORT. 


THE  CONFERENCE  FOR  EDUCATION  IN  THE  SOUTH. 
In  Account  with  WM.  A.  BLAIR,  Treasurer. 

RECEIPTS. 

May   11,   1908 $       64  89 

November  14,  1908 500  00 

April    8,    1908 2,000  00—$  2,564  89 

DlSBU  RSEM  ENTS . 

April  16,  1908,  overdraft $       64  89 

Expenses    352  50 

April    8,    1909,    balance 2,147  50—$  2,564  89 


Respectfully  submitted, 

WILLIAM  A.  BLAIR, 

Treasurer. 
Winston-Salem,  N.  C.,  April  16,  1909. 


OFFICERS.  219 


OFFICERS. 


President — ROBERT  C.  OGD'KN.  New  York  City. 

Vice  President — BENJAMIN  J.  BALDWIN,  Montgomery,  Ala. 

Treasurer — WILLIAM  A.  BLAIR,  Winston-Salem,  N.  C. 

Executive  Secretary — WICKLIKR:  ROSE.  Nashville,  T.enn. 

Executive  Committee — "\Vickliffe  Rose,  Nashville,  Tenn.;  S.  C.  Mitch- 
ell, Richmond,  Va. ;  AV.  H.  Hand,  Columbia,  S.  C.;  Seymour  A.  Myn- 
ders,  Knoxville,  Tenn.;  George  J.  Ramsey,  Danville,  Ky. ;  Harry  Hodg- 
son, Athens,  Ga.;  Paul  H.  Saunders,  Laurel,  Miss.;  James  H.  Dillard, 
New  Orleans,  La.;  John  H.  Hinemon,  Arkadelphia,  Ark.;  J.  Y.  Joyner, 
Raleigh,  N.  C.;  J.  B.  Aswell,  Baton  Rouge,  La.;  Edgar  Gardner  Mur- 
phy, Montgomery,  Ala.;  H.  B.  Frissell,  Hampton,  Va.;  J.  H.  Kirkland, 
Nashville,  Tenn. 


ASSOCIATION    OF    SOUTHERN    STATES    SUPERINTENDENTS    OF 
PUBLIC    INSTRUCTION. 

President — J.  Y.  JOYNEB,  Raleigh,  N.  C. 

Secretary — J.  N.  POWERS,  Jackson,  Miss. 

Superintendents — H.  C.  Gunnels.  Montgomery.  Ala.;  George  B.  Cook, 
Little  Rock,  Ark.;  W.  M.  Hollo-nay.  Tallahassee,  Fla.;  J.  M.  Pound, 
Atlanta,  Ga.;  J.  G.  Crabbe,  Frankfort,  Ky.;  T.  H.  Harris,  Baton  Rouge, 
La.;  J.  E.  Swearingen,  Columbia,  S.  C.;  R.  L.  Jones,  Nashville,  Tenn.; 
R.  B.  Cousins,  Austin,  Texas;  J.  D.  Eggleston,  Richmond,  Va.;  Thomas 
C.  Miller,  Charleston,  W.  Va. 


CONFERENCE  FOR  EDUCATION. 

«* 
THE  SOUTHERN  EDUCATIONAL  BOARD. 


ROBERT  C.  OGDEN, 
President. 

GEORGE  FOSTER  PEABODY. 

President  a»'1   Treasurer. 


GEORGE  S.  DICKERMAX, 
Associate  Secretary. 

EDWIN  A.  ALDERMAN,  HENRY  E.  FRIES, 

*WM.  H.  BALDWIN,  JR.  HOLLIS  B.  FUISSELL, 

SYDNEY  J.  Bow  IK.  H.  H.  HANNAH. 

WALLACE  BUTTRICK,  WALTER  B.  HILL, 

P.  P.  CLAXTON,  DAVID  F.  HOUSTON, 

FRANK  R.  CHAMI;I:I;S.  CHARLES  D.  MC!VER. 

*J.  L.  M.  CURRY,  S.  C.  MITCHELL. 

CHARLES  W.  DABNEY.  WALTER  H.  PAGE, 

ALBERT  SHAW,  J.  H.  KIRKLAND, 

J.  H.  DILLARD,  WKKLIFFE  ROSE. 
EDGAR  GARDNER  MUBPHY, 

THE  ATLANTA  COMMITTEES. 

Executive  Committee  —  J.  K.  Orr,  Chairman;  S.  M.  Inman,  John  J. 
Eagan,  J.  W.  Hoyt,  C.  B.  Bidwell,  R.  C.  Congdon,  K.  G.  Matheson. 

General  Reception  Committee  —  S.  M.  Inman,  Chairman;  R.  F.  Mad- 
dox,  Asa  G.  Candler,  J.  K.  Orr,  K.  G.  Matheson,  .Tore  Pound,  M.  L.  Brit- 
tain,  W.  N.  Slaton,  J.  T.  Holleman,  L\  I.  Carson,  C.  R.  Haskins,  D.  M. 
Therrell,  George  L.  Bell,  R.  E.  Morgan,  W.  O.  Footer,  F.  S.  Cox,  Harry 
L.  Walker,  B.  Miflin  Hood,  R.  C.  Congdon,  H.  A.  Maier,  W.  G.  Cooper. 
W.  R.  McClelland,  Daniel  Farrell,  J.  A.  Fischer,  Ben  Lee  Crew,  C.  H. 
Kelly,  R.  M.  Walker,  S.  E.  Massengale,  William  Lycett,.  H.  G.  Hastings, 
H.  L.  Cardoza,  E.  V.  Carter,  V.  H.  Kriegshaber.  J.  W.  Fielder,  B.  Dav- 
ison,  C.  K.  Ayer,  D.  H.  Kirkland,  M.  M.  Jackson,  Mell  R.  Wilkinson, 
Paul  Norcross,  J.  D.  Rhodes,  A.  F.  Bellingrath,  Walter  Rioh,  B.  M. 
Grant,  G.  H.  Morrow,  Joseph  T.  Orme,  David  Woodard.  F.  J.  Paxon, 
John  E.  Murphy,  Samuel  A.  Carter,  Wilmer  L.  Moore. 

Entertainment  Committee  —  John  K.   Ottley,  Chairman. 

Press  Committee  —  Miss  Isma  Dooly,  Chairman. 

Committee  on  Places  of  Meeting  —  Asa  G.  Candler.  Chairman. 

•Deceased. 


REGISTERED  MEMBERS.  221 


REGISTERED  MEMBERS. 


John  W.  Abercrombie,  President  University  Alabama,  University,  Ala. 

Mrs.    John   W.   Abercrombie,   University,   Ala. 

Bertha  Adele  Adams,  B.  E.,  teacher  Blocution  and  Physical  Expression, 
Toronto,  Can. 

W.  G.  Acree,  Principal  2d  District  Agricultural  School,  Tifton,  Ga. 

R.  H.  Adams,  Principal  Berry  School.  Rome,  Ga. 

M.  V.  B.  Ake,  Pres.  Board  of  Education  Polk  County,  Cedartown,  Ga. 

Miss  Jewell  F.  Alien,  teacher,  Midville,  Ga. 

Mrs.  Leonard  L.  Allen,  Rochester,  N.  Y. 

J.  I.  Allman,  Superintendent  City  Schools,  Toccoa,  Ga. 

May  Belle  Anderson,  normal  student,  Summit,  Ga. 

J.  B.  Aswell,  President  State  Normal  School,  Natchitoches,  La. 

Brown  Ayres,  President  University  of  Tennessee,  Knoxville,  Tenn. 

Thomas  P.  Bailey,  Dean  of  Department  of  Education,  University,  Miss. 

Miss  Beulah  Bailey,  teacher,  Girard,  Ga. 

B.  J.  Baldwin,  President  Board  of  Education.  Montgomery,  Ala. 

Mrs.   B.   J.   Baldwin,   Montgomery,   Ala. 

G.  M.  Barnes,  Principal  of  Stinson  High  School,  Stinson,  Ga. 

Mrs.   Alice   Baxter,  Atlanta,   Ga. 

J.  W.  Beeson,  President  Woman's  College.  Meridian,  Miss. 

Rosa  L.  Beeson,  Meridian,  Miss. 

Geo.  E.  Benedict.  Pres.  Samuel  Benedict  Mem.  School,  Cedartown,  Ga. 

H.  E.  Bennett,  Professor  Philos.  and  Ed.  Coll.  of '  William  and  Mary, 
Williamsburg,  Va. 

Miss  Mary  Bennett,  rural  school.  Forsyth,  Ga. 

Martha  Berry,   Director  of  Berry  School,  Rome,  Ga. 

Julia  Bethune,  normal  student,  Milledgeville.  Ga. 

G.  A.  R.  Bible,  C.   S.  C.,   Sulphur  Springs,  Ga. 

H.  E.  Bierly,  editor  Southern  Educational  Review,  Secretary  Educa- 
tional Association,  Chattanooga,  Tenn. 

David   H.   Bishop,  Professor  of  English   University   Mississippi. 

J.  W.  Black-well,  Principal  High   School,   Dial,  Ga. 

R.  L.  Blackwell,  C.  S.  Com..  Gainesville,  Ga. 

Wm.  A.  Blair,  Peoples  National  Bank.  Winston-Salem,  N.  C. 

W.  J.  Blake,  Prin.  Oakwood  Manual  Training  School,  Huntsville,  Ala. 

A.  H.  Bohling,  attorney,  P.  O.  Box  244. 

Col.  O.  J.  Bond,  Supt.  S.  C.  Mil.  Acad.,  Citadel,  Charleston,  S.  C. 

Mrs.  Albert  R.  Bond,  Marietta,  Ga. 

Alexander  L.  Bondurant,  Professor  of  Latin  University  Mississippi. 

John  F.  Bonnell,  Emory  College.  Professor  Physics,  Oxford,  Ga. 


222  CONFERENCE  FOR   EDUCATION. 

John  G.  Bowman,  Secretary  of  Carnegie  Foundation,  New  York,  N.  Y. 
Urben  Bowen,  Principal  Cherokee  Bapt.  H.  School,  Adairsville,  Ga. 
J.  W.  Boyd,  Professor  Math.  N.  G.  A.  College,  Dahlonega,  Ga. 
Mrs.  Emma  Garrett  Boyd,  President   Southern  Association  of  College 

Women,   Atlanta,   Ga. 
William  Bradford,  member  county  board  of  education,  Cedartown,  Ga. 

F.  G.  Branch,  Principal  Rockville  Academy,  Eatonton,  Ga. 
T.  P.  Branch,  Professsor  of  Civil  ^Engineering,  Atlanta,  Ga. 
E.  C.  Branson,  President  State  Normal   School,  Athens,  Ga. 

Miss  Anne  T.  Brewer,  Supervisor  Elementary  Department  Georgia 
Normal  and  Industrial  College,  Milledgeville,  Ga. 

J.  W.  Brister,  Professor  of  Mathematics  Peabody  College  for  Teachers, 
Nashville,  Tenn. 

M.  L.  Brittain,  Fulton  County  School  Commissioner,  Atlanta,  Ga. 

G.  W.  Brock,  Chm'n  Faculty  Ala.  Normal  College,  Livingston,  Ala. 
T.  G.  Brooke,  farmer,  Oglethorpe,  Ga. 

Eula  M.   Brooks,   tabernacle   teacher,    Sandersville,   Ga. 

Eugene  C.  Brooks,  Professor  Education  Trinity  College,  Durham,  N.  C. 

Elmer  Ellsworth  Brown,  Commissioner  of  Education,  Washington,  D.  C. 

Miss  Cora  Brown,  Board  of  Education,  Atlanta,  Ga. 

Fanny  Eddy  Brown   (Mrs.  Elmer  E.),  Washington,  D.  C. 

R.  L.  Bynum,  County  Superintendent  of  Schools,  Jackson,  Tenn. 

L.  W.  Buchholz,  Supt.  Public  Instruction  Hillsboro  County,  Tampa,  Fla. 

C.  W.  Burnett,  ex-Superintendent  Schools,  Piqua,  .Ohio. 

E.  P.  Burns,  insurance  actuary  lawyer,  Atlanta,  Ga. 

M.    L.    Bureh,    County    Superintendent;    Commissioner    Dodge    County, 

Georgia,   Eastman,   Ga. 
W.  B.  Burroughs,  M.  D.,  member  Board  of  Education,  Brunswick,.  Ga. 

F.  C.  Bellton,  Principal  Morehead  Normal,  Morehead,  Ga. 

Wallace  Buttrick,  Secretary  General  Education  Board,  Teaneck,  N.  J. 

B.  C.  Caldwell,  Natchitoches,  La. 

Harriett  Z.  Campbell,  teacher  Tr.  School  G.  N.  C.,  Milledgeville,  Ga. 

Mrs.  John  C.  Campbell,  Demorest,  Ga. 

John  C.   Campbell,   Demorest,   Ga. 

Miss    Caroline    Carpenter,    Professor   of  'German    Peabody    College    for 

Teachers,  Nashville,  Tenn. 
Miss  Alice  Carroll,  Nashville,  Tenn. 
S.  B.  Carter,  Gainesville,  Ga. 
Vera  Carter,   normal   student,   Loganville,   Ga. 
Miss  Susan  D.  Gates,  teacher,  Waynesboro,  Ga. 
Lyman  Chalkley,  Dean  Law  Department  University  of  the  South,  Se- 

wanee,   Tenn. 

Miss  Norma  Lou  Chandler,  teacher,  Waynesboro,  Ga. 
Miss  Oreola  Cheves,  First  Assistant  in  High   School,   Montezuma,  Ga. 
A.  J.  Cheves,  member  Board  of  Education,  Montezuma,  Ga. 


REGISTERED  MEMBERS.  223 

T.  W.  Clanton,  Atlanta,   Ga. 

Miss  Sora  Clark,  Secy  School  Imp.  Association,  Montgomery,  Ala. 
Prof.  P.  P.  Claxton,  University  of  Tennessee,  Knoxville,  Tenn. 
Charles  S.  Cober,  Director  Technological  Department  Boys.  High  School, 

Atlanta,    Ga. 

Maude  Cobb,  normal  student,  Temple,  Ga. 
Alex  B.  Coffey,  Dean  Department  Education  Louisiana  State  University, 

Baton  Rouge,   La. 

S.  J.  Cole,  agent  Ginn  &  Co.,  Birmingham,  Ala. 
Mrs.    S.   J.    Cole,    Birmingham,   Ala. 
Waller  Scott  Coleman,  editor  "Standard,"  Cedartown,  Ga. 

C.  W.  Coleman,  member  Board  of  Education,  Devereux,  Ga. 

Miss  Elizabeth  Avery  Colton,  Professor  of  English  Baptist  University, 

Raleigh,  N.  C. 

Wilber  Colvin,  President  Piedmont  Institute,  Rockmart,  Ga. 
Mary  Cone,  normal  student,   Statesboro,  Ga. 
Mrs.  Emma  C.  Connally,  College  Park,  Ga. 

W.  O.  Connor,  Principal  Georgia  School  for  the  Deaf,  Cave  Spring,  Ga. 
George  B.  Cook,  State  Supt.  Public  Instruction,  Little  Rock,  Ark. 
Charles  L.  Coon,  Superintendent  Schools,  Wilson,  X.  C. 
R.  A.  Coon,  Reepsville,  X.  C. 
John  Lee  Coulter,  Minneapolis.  Minn. 

E.  F.  Couther.  Plant  Breeding  and  Ex.  Sta.  Work,  Auburn,  Ala. 
S.  M.  Gown,  Special  Agt.  Dept.  of  Agr.,  Union  City,  Tenn. 

A.  H.  Cox.  lawyer.  Atlanta,  Ga. 

Edwin  B.  Craighead,  President  Tulaue  University  of   Louisiana.   Xew 

Orleans,  La. 

N.  D.  Cram,  Xew  York  City. 
Mrs.  George  W.  Crary.  Xew  York  City.    . 
Clarence  C.  Crisler,  editor.  Sanitarium   (Xapa  County),  Cal. 

D.  J.  Crosby,  Specialist  in  Agricultural  Education,   U.   S.   Department 

of  Agriculture,  Washington,  D.  C. 
Mrs.  Charles  S.  Culver!  Atlanta.  Ga. 

Mrs.  Robert  Cunningham,  Field  Sec'y  Agnes  Scott  College.  Decatur,  Ga. 
A.  T.  Curry,  ex-teacher,  Atlanta.  Ga. 
J.  W.  Curtis,  chairman  board.  Rutledge,  Ga. 
Mrs.  Frank  W.  Darling,  Hampton,  Ya. 

F.  W.  Darling,  Hampton.   Ya. 

Mrs.   L.   R.   Dashiell,   Richmond,    Ya. 
Thomas   J.    Davie,    Principal,    Tennille,    Ga. 
Mrs.  Archibald  H.  Davis,  Atlanta,  Ga. 
Lucy  L.  Davis,   Supervisor  Ele.   Schools,  Lynchburg,  Ya. 
Nannie  C.  Davis,  Principal  Practice  School,  William  &  Mary,  Williams- 
burg,  Ya. 
Eula  Deaton,  Secretary-Treasurer  S.  A.  C.  W.,  San  Antonio,  Texas. 


224  CONFERENCE  FOR  EDUCATION. 

M.  B.  Dennis,  Prin.  Sixth  District  A.  and  M.  Schools,  Barnesville,  Ga. 

George  H.  Denny,  President  of  Washington  and  Lee  University,  Lex- 
ington, Va. 

J.  G.  Dupree, -Professor  of  Greek,  University,  Miss. 

Mrs.  G.  S.  Dickerman,  New  Haven,  Conn. 

G.  S.  Dickerman,  Associate  Secretary  Southern  Education  Board,  New 
Haven,  Conn. 

Miss  L.  K.  Dickinson,  Lady  Principal,  College,   Park. 

Walter  B.  Dillard,  minister  M.  E.  Church  South,  Marietta,  Ga. 

W.  E.   Dendy,   President  Douglasville   College,   Douglasville,   Ga. 

W.  N.  D.  Dixon,  County  School  Superintendent, ,  Fayetteville,  Ga. 

Isma  Dooly,  Atlanta  Constitution,  Atlanta,  Ga. 

James  J.  Doster,  Professor  of  Secondary  Education  University  of  Ala- 
bama, University,  Ala. 

(Rev.)   Dwight  Howard  Dow,  minister,  Worcester,  Mass. 

R.  T.  Dowsett,  minister,  Atlanta,  Ga. 

Mrs.  Helen  D.   Dowsett,  missionary,  Atlanta,   Ga. 

Mrs.  R.  H.  Drake,  Griffin,  Ga. 

N.  H.  Druillard,  Treasurer  of  the  N.  A.  &  N.  Inst,  Madison,  Tenn. 

R.  F.  Duckworth,  editor  Farmers'  Union  News,  Union  City,  Tenn. 

Lawrence   Duffey,  County   School   Commissioner,   McDonough,   Ga. 

M.  L.  Duggan,  County  Superintendent,   Sparta,  Ga. 

J.  F.  Duggar,  Professor  of  Agriculture,  Auburn,  Ala. 

L.  N.  Duncan,  Assistant  Professor  Agr.  A.  P.  L,  Auburn,  Ala. 

Frederick  N.  Duncan,  Professor  of  Biology  Emory  College,  Oxford,  Ga. 

George  W.  Duncan,  Chairman  Board  of  Education  Auburn  public 
schools,  Auburn,  Ala. 

Miss  Alice  Dyar,  Adairville,  Ga. 

W.  F.  Dykes,  Principal  Boys'  High  School,  Atlanta,   Ga. 

Annie  May  Dimmest,  teacher  G.  H.  S.,  Montgomery,  Ala. 

D.  L.  Earnest,  Teacher  of  Science,  S.  N.  S.,  Athens,  Ga. 

Margaret  Eastburn,  at  Schofield   School,  Aiken.   S.  C. 

Joseph  Dupuy  Eggleston,  Jr.,  State  Superintendent  Public  Instruction, 
Richmond,  Va. 

Charles  C.  Elliott,  President  Sparks  Collegiate  Institute,  Sparks,  Ga. 

A.  Caswell  Ellis,  Professor  of  Education,  Austin,  Texas. 

J.  G.  B.  Ewin,  Jr.,  C.  S.  Comr.,  Calhoun,  Ga. 

Robert  Estill,  clergyman,  Hampton,  Va. 

Lawton  B.  Evans,  Superintendent  Schools,  Augusta,  Ga. 

C.  E.  Evans,  General  Agent  the  Conference  for  Education  in  Texas, 
Austin,  Texas. 

Ella  Evans,  normal   student,   Warrenton,   Ga. 

Elizabeth  Falls,  training  teacher,  Milledgeville,  Ga. 

F.  F.  Farmer,  Acting  Professor  of  Mathematics,  Oxford,  Ga. 

Miss  Annie  Farmer,  teacher,  Alexander,  Ga. 


REGISTERED  MEMBERS.  225 

Mrs.  Elizabeth  Fisher,  Atlanta,  Ga. 

Abraham  Flexner,  Staff  Carnegie  Foundation,  New  York. 

F.  L.  Florence,  County  School  Commissioner,  Madison,  Ga. 

S.  J.  Flynt,  County  School  Commissioner,  Sharon,  Ga. 

J.  H.  Ford,  Toronto,  Can. 

A.  H.  Foster,  Superintendent  Newton  County  Schools,  Covington,  Ga. 

J.  I.  Fous"t,  Pres.  State  Normal  and  Industrial  College,  Greensboro,  N.  C. 

Wilson  Warren  Fowlis,  Teacher  of  Languages,  Hastings-on-Hudson, 
N.  Y. 

Robert  Frazer,  Field  Agent  Southern  Education  Board,  Warrenton,  Va. 

Franklin  M.  E.  Gresk,  Teacher-Training  Secretary  International  Sun- 
day School  Association,  Chicago,  111. 

L.  L.  Friend,  Asst.  State  Superintendent  Schools,  Charleston,  W.  Va. 

H.  J.  Gautner,  Professor  History,   Milledgeville,   Ga. 

F.  H.  Gaines,  President  Agnes  Scott  College,  Decatur,  Ga. 
J.  W.  Gaines,  President  Cox  College,  College  Park,  Ga. 
Miss  Lizzie  Garner,  student  Cox  College,  College,  Park,  Ga. 
Miss  Addie  Garrett,   Principal,  Riddleville,  Ga. 

Mrs.  G.  Gebhardt,  former  teacher  in  City  History  Club,  New  York  City, 

N.  Y.,  Atlanta,  Ga. 
Mrs.  G.  Gebhardt,  Atlanta,  Ga. 

E.  Gentry,  State  Agent  Farmers'  Dem.  Work.,  Jonesboro,  Ga. 
Carleton  B.  Gibson,  Superintendent  of  Schools,  Columbus,  Ga. 
Miss  Laura  Drake  Gill,  President  A.  C.  A.;    President  Women's  Dept. 

N.  E.  A.,   Washington,  D.  C. 

Elizabeth  M.  Getz,  Director  Drawing,  Atlanta,  Ga. 
Mrs.  John  M.  Glenn,  New  York,  N.  Y. 
John  M.  Glenn,  Director  Russell  Sage  Foundation,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

G.  R.  Glenn,  President  North  Georgia  Agr.  College,  Dahlonega,  Ga. 
J.  G.   Goble,  layman,  Woodstock,  Ont.,  Can. 

George  D.  Goddard,  Superintendent  Public  Schools,  Moultrie,  Ga. 
Mrs.  P.  W.  Godfrey,  D.  C.  of  Covington,  Ga.,  Covington,  Ga. 
Bartis  E.  Goodman,  student,  Atlanta.  Ga. 
Mrs.  Charles  Goodman,  Milton  Bradley  Co.,  Atlanta,  Ga. 
Charles  Goodman,  Mgr.  Milton  Bradley  Co.,  Atlanta,  Ga. 
William  E.  Gonzales,  editor  The  State,  Columbia,  S.  C. 
C.  W.  Grant,  County  School  Commissioner,  Clarksville,  Ga. 
A.  J.  Gray,  Jr.,  publisher,  Richmond,  Va. 
Mrs.  B.  D.  Gray,  College  Park,  Ga. 

William  D.  Greene,  Superintendent  of  Schools,  McDonough,  Ga. 
Miss  Lillian  Greene,  teacher,  Cartersville,  Ga. 

Mrs.  Harry  C.  Gunnels,  President  Alabama  State  Improvement  Asso- 
ciation, Montgomery,  Ala. 

Miss  Margaret  Gresham,  teacher,  Waynesboro,  Ga. 
8 


226  Co.\TKi;i:xri:   FOR    KIHTATIUX. 

E.  B.  Gresham,  County  School  Com.   Burke  County,   Waynesboro,  Ga. 

Miss  Mary  Goodwin  Griggs,  artist,  Atlanta,  Ga. 

Frederick  Griggs,  Chairman  Department  Education  Gen.  Conf.  S.  D.  A., 

Washington,  D.  C. 
Harry  C.  Gunnels,  State  Superintendent  Education,  Montgomery,  Ala. 

C.  H.  Haines,  Professor  Practical  Theology,  Atlanta,  Ga. 

P.    T.   Hale,   Corresponding   Secretary   Baptist   Educational    Society   of 

Kentucky,  Louisville,  Ky. 

Clara  Hall,   Renfroe   teacher,   Sandersville,   Ga. 

Miss  Emily  Hallowell,  teacher  at  Calhoun  Col.  School,  Calhoun,  Ala. 
William  C.  A.  Hammel,  Physics  and  Manual  Arts  Slate  Normal  College, 

Greensboro,   N.    C. 

W.  H.  Hand,  Professor  of  S.  Ed.,  Columbia,  S.  C. 
Miss  Jane  M.  Hammon,  teacher,  Birmingham,  Ala. 
J.  Henry  Harms,  President  Newberry  College,  Newberry,  S.  C. 
Mrs.  Clio  Harper,  S.  I.  A.  Organizer,  Little  Rock,  Ark. 
T.  H.  Harris,  State  Superintendent,  Baton  Rouge,  La. 
Mrs.  James  Harrison,  Columbus,  Ga. 
Miss  Mary  E.  Harrison,  Rochester,  New  York. 
James  F.  Hart,  Jr.,  Supt.  Eighth  A.  &  M.  School,  Madison,  Ga. 
Mrs.  H.  G.  Hastings,  President  Dec.  Woman's  Club,  Decatur,  Ga. 
L."  M.  Hatton,  teacher,  Tampa,  Fla. 

Robert  E.  Hatton,  President  Liberty  College,  Glasgow,  Ky. 
Mrs.   Eugene   B.   Heard,   General   Superintendent  .Traveling   Libraries, 

Middleton,  Ga. 

Miss  Nettie  Health,  teacher,  Girard,  Ga. 

Miss  Perry  Henderson,  Assistant  Princ-ii  al  Walker,  Atlanta,  Ga. 
J.  Walter  Hendricks,  Prin.  First  Dist.  A.  &  M.  School,  Statesboro,  Ga. 
Miss  Ann  Hero,   Professor  Newcomb  College,   New   Orleans,    La. 
Mrs.    Walter    B.    Hill,    State    Organizer    School    Improvement    Clubs, 

Athens,  Ga. 

D.  H.  Hill,  President  N.  C.  Ag.  &  Mech.  College,  Raleigh,  N.  C. 
Mary  Minot  Hill,  Secretary  to  the  Chancellor  University  of  Georgia, 

Athens,  Ga. 

Miss  Parna  B.  Hill,  Athens,  Ga. 
George  A.  Plimpton,  New  York. 

Frederick  W.  Hinitt,  President  Central  University,  Danville,  Ky. 
Leola  Hinson,  student  G.  N.  &  I.  C.,  Lumber  City,  Ga. 
J.  V.  Hodges,  teacher,  Atlanta,   Ga. 

Harry  Hodgson,  member  Executive  Committee  of  Con.  Athens,  Ga. 
Roberta  Hodgson,  History  Dept.  State  Normal  School,  Athens,  Ga. 
W.   T.  Halliday,  County  School   Commissioner,   Lumpkin,   Ga. 
Joycie  J.  Hollingsworth,  teacher,  Nashville,  Tenn. 
Jean  Hollingsworth,  Atlanta,  Ga. 
W.  M.  Holloway,  State  Supt.  Public  Instruction,  Tallahassie,  Fla. 


REGISTERED  MEMBERS.  227 

Mrs.   W.   M.    Holloway,  Tallahassie,   Fla. 

Mrs.  William  R.  Hollowell,  State  President  Betterment  Association, 
Goldsboro,  N.  C. 

Frances  P.  Hooper,  Professor  of  Biology  Ind.  Inst.  and  College,  Col- 
umbus, Miss. 

D.  F.  Houston,  Chancellor  Washington  University.  St.   Louis,  Mo. 
J.  E.  Houseal,  County  Superintendent,  Cedartown,  Ga. 

William  Conway  Howard,  Dean  Converse  College,   Spartanburg,   S.   C. 

Edith  Howe,  The  Delineator,  New  York  City. 

Isaac  W.  Hughes,  Principal  High  School,  Commerce,  Ga. 

E.  L.  Hughes,  Superintendent  Schools,  Greenville,  S.  C. 

Carey  J.  Hunter,  State  Agent  Union  Central  Life  Ins.  Co.,  Raleigh,  N.  C. 

Merrill  Hutchinson,  Organist  St.  Luke's,  Atlanta,  Ga. 

Miss  Effie  Iceley,  Principal  Oak  Grove  School,  Chipley,  Ga. 

S.  Y.  Jameson;  President  Mercer  University,   Macou,  Ga. 

J.  L.   Jarman,  President  of  Normal   School,   Farmville,   Va. 

W.  M.  Jennings,  lawyer,  Atlanta.  Ga. 

Bessie  Jeter,  student  at  G.  X.  I.  C.,  Macon,  Ga. 

Mrs.  W.  F.  Johnson,  Principal  Inman  Park  School,  Atlanta,  Ga. 

D.  B.  Johnson,  President  Winthrop  Normal  and  Industrial  College, 
Rock  Hill,  S.  C. 

M.  L.  Johnson,  farmer,  Cass  Station,  Ga. 

J.  H.  Johnson,  Superintendent  State  Schools  for  the  Deaf  and  Blind, 
Talladega,  Ala. 

Lilian  Wyckoff  Johnson,  teacher  high  school,  Memphis,  Tenn. 

Malcolm  Jones,  student,  Eatonton,   Ga. 

Robert  L.  Jones,  State  Superintendent  Schools,  Nashville,  Tenn. 

Mrs.   R.   L.   Jones,   Nashville,   Tenn. 

J.  Y.  Joyner,  Superintendent  Public  Instruction,  Raleigh,  N.  C. 

Zeb  V.  Judd,  County  Superintendent  Public  Instruction,  Raleigh,  N.  C. 

A.  C.  Kaufman,  Trustee  College  of  Charleston,  Charleston,  S.  C. 

Maud  McLure  Kelly,  lawyer,  Atlanta,  Ga. 

J.  L.  Kelley,  M.  D.,  Superintendent  P.  I.,  Gainesville,  Fla. 

Mrs.  Wilhelmine  E.  Key,  presiding  teacher  Belmont  College,  Nashville, 
Tenn. 

J.  K.  Kinard,  Treasurer  County  Board  Education,  Sylvester,  Ga. 

Andrew  A.  Kincannon,  Chancellor  University  of  Mississippi. 

John  C.  King,  County  School  Commissioner,  Rome,  Ga. 

Lida  Shaw  King,  Dean  of  Women's  College  Brown  University,  Provi- 
dence, R.  I. 

J.  H.  Kirkland,  Chancellor  Vanderbilt  University,  Nashville,  Tenn. 

S.  Arthur  Knapp,  Assistant  Farmers'  Cooperative  Demonstration  Work, 
Washington,  D.  C. 

Seaman  A.  Knapp,  in  charge  of  Farmers'  Cooperative  Demonstration 
Work  U.  S.  Department  of  Agriculture,  Washington,  D.  C. 


L'L'V  CONFKKKXCI;     I'OR     ElHTATIt  )X. 

Sarah  C.  Kallock,  student,  Atlanta,  Ga. 

H.  W.   Laird,   newspaper,   Montgomery.   Ala. 

L.  M.  Landrum,  Assistant  Superintendent  Schools,  Atlanta,  Ga. 

W.  R.  Lanier,  Superintendent  Public  Schools,  Jackson,  Ga. 

Josephine  Lawney,  Bursar  Atlanta  University,   Atlanta,  Ga. 

Wallace  Lund,  reporter,  New  York  City. 

R.  M.  Leavell,  Professor  of  Philosophy,  University,  Miss. 

James  W.   Lee,  minister,   Atlanta,   Ga. 

Mrs.  G.  H.  Lemon,  teacher,  Olivet,  Mich. 

Miss  Mary  Lamar  Turpin,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Mrs.  J.  R.  Little,  President  City  Congress  of  Mothers,  Atlanta,  Ga. 

Robert  C.  Little,  mathematics,  Boys'  High  School,  Atlanta,  Ga. 

Miss  E.  M.  Lord,  teacher,  Hartford,  Conn. 

Belle   Lavvorn,   normal   student,    Tallapoosa,   Ga. 

T.  S.  Lucas,  Superintendent,  Dalton,  Ga. 

George  M.  Lynch,  Professor  Secondary  Education  University  of  Florida, 

Gainesville,  Fla. 

Phoebus  W.  Lyon,  Professor  at  Maryville  College,  Maryville,  Tenn. 
Edward  G.  Maclin,  instructor  in  drawing  Boys'  High  School,  Atlanta, 

Ga. 

Miriam  Madden,  student  Cox  College,  Atlanta,  Ga. 
C.  S.  Maddox,  County  School  Commissioner,  Jackson,  Ga. 
Mrs.  W.  T.  Murry,  Atlanta,  Ga. 
Mrs.  B.  W.  Martin,  Atlanta,  Ga. 
Mrs.  Alice  K.   Saint  Martin,  Dept.  Child  Hygeine,  Mother's  Congress, 

care  Delineator,  New  Orleans,  La. 
O.  B.  Martin,  special  agent,  Washington,  D.  C. 
B.  B.  Mason,  teacher,  Jasper,  Ga. 
Wade  H.  Maxwell,  Principal  Ninth  District  A.  &  M.   School,  Clarkes- 

ville,  Ga. 

Edward  F.  Mayberry,  ex-Principal  Chas.  Univ.   School,  Atlanta,  Ga. 
Mrs.  E.  G.  McCabe,  Atlanta,  Ga. 
J.  P.  McConnell,  minister,  Grayson,  Ga. 
Gladys  McGill,  Principal  Colbert  School,  Colbert,  Ga. 
Mrs.  Charles  D.  Mclver,  Field  Secretary  of  The  Woman's  Association 

for  the  Betterment  of  Public  Schools  in  N.  C.,  Greensboro,  N.  C. 
St.  Clair  McKelway,  Vice  Chancellor  of  the  Board  of  Regents  of  the 

State  of  New  York,  Brooklyn,  N.   Y. 

A.  J.  McKelway,  Secretary  National  Child  Labor  Com.,  Atlanta,  Ga. 
.Mrs.  A.  J.  McKelway,  Decatur,  Ga. 

A.  W.   McLarty,   trustee,   Douglasville,  Ga. 

B.  P.  McMaster,  Columbia,  S.  C. 

Homer  McMillan,   Clergyman,   Atlanta,   Ga. 

J.  B.  McMillan,  student  Cox  College,  Atlanta,  Ga. 


REGISTERED  MEMBERS  229 

Emilie  W.  McVea,  Assistant  Professor  of  English  University  of  Cin- 
cinnati, Cincinnati,  Ohio. 

Edward  Kidder  Meade,  assistant  city  editor  New  York  Tribune,  New 
York  City. 

Phena  Meadows,  normal  student,  Covington,  Ga. 

William  R.  Meadows,  Director  Mississippi  Textile  School  (Department 
of  Miss.  A.  &  M.  College),  Agricultural  College,  Miss. 

C.  H.  Malone,  special  clerk  Department  Education,  Raleigh,  N.  C. 

A.  S.  Meharg,  special  agent  Department  Agriculture,  Live  Oak,  Fla. 

Charles   Francis   Meserve,  President   Shaw   University,   Raleigh,   N.   C. 

Wightman  F.  Melton,  Professor  of  English  Emory  College,  Oxford,  Ga. 

J.  C.  Metcalf,  Professor  of  English  Richmond  College,  Richmond,  Va. 

Walter  McMiehael,  County   School  Commissioner,  Cuthbert,  Ga. 

Henry  Milan,  County  School  Commissioner  Barton  Co.,  Cartersville,  Ga. 

Norman  C.  Miller,  agent  Ginn  &  Co.,  Atlanta,  Ga. 

Thomas  C.  Miller,  ex-State  Superintendent  Schools,  Charleston,  W.  Va. 

S.  C.  Mitchell,  President  University  of  South  Carolina,  Columbia,  S.  C. 

J.  Russell  Mitchell,  dentist,  Lakeland,  Fla. 

Mrs.  S.  C.  Mitchell,  Columbia,  S.  C. 

A.  P.  Montague,  President  Howard  College,  Birmingham,  Ala. 

J.  Alex  Moore,  Chairman  of  Faculty  Alabama  Girls'  Industrial  School, 
Montevallo.  Ala. 

Mrs.  M.  B.  Moore,  Bolton,  Ga. 

Miss  Virginia  Pearl  Moore,  Organizer  of  School  Improvement  Work 
of  Tennessee,  Gallatin,  Tenn. 

Mrs.  James  Alexander  Moore,  Montevallo,   Ala. 

Miss  Agnes  Morris,  State  Organizer  of  School  Improvement  Leagues, 
Natchitcches,  La. 

Rev.  S.  L.  Morris,  D.  D.,  clergyman.  Atlanta,  Ga. 

Miss  Lida  L.  Morse,  Rochester,  New  York. 

Mrs.  B.  B.  Munford,  Richmond,  Va. 

H.  O.  Murfee,  Superintendent  Marion  Institute,  Marion,  Ala. 

Edgar  Gardner  Murphy. 

Miss  Mary  T.  Nance,  field  agent  of  State  Educational  Campaign  Com- 
mittee, Cross  Hill,  S.  C. 

Miss  Cora  Neal,  Rome,  Ga. 

McCormick  Neal,  Atlanta,  Ga. 

Dr.  J.  H.  Neall,  physician,  Atlanta.  Ga. 

Mrs.  J.  W.  Neil,  Atlanta,  Ga. 

J.  P.  Nelson,  Commissioner,  Oglethorpe,  Ga. 

C.  K.  Nelson,  Bishop  of  Atlanta,  Atlanta,  Ga. 

N.   O.   Nelson,   St.   Louis,  Mp. 

Miss  Lucile  Nolan,  assistant  principal   Pryor,  Atlanta,  Ga. 

G.  A.  Nunnally,  President  Columbia  College,  Lake  City,  Fla. 

Miss  Angie  Gates,  teacher,  Louisville,  Ga. 


230  CONFERENCE  FOR  EDUCATION. 

President  R  C.  Ogden,  New  York. 

T.  D.  O'Kelley,  County  School  Commissioner  Rockdale,  Conyers,  Ga. 

G.  F.  Oliphant,  Superintendent  Georgia  Academy  for  the  Blind,  Ma- 
con,  Ga. 

Floy  Olliff,  normal  student,  Ft.  Gaines,  Ga. 

Rev.  W.  D.  Owens,  Atlanta,  Ga. 

Mrs.  John  K.  Ottley,  Atlanta,  Ga. 

Clarence  N.  Ousley,  editor  Ft.  Worth  Record,  Ft.  Worth,  Texas. 

Francis  Owens,  student  Cox  College,  College  Park,  Ga. 

Miss  Cora  L.  Page,  assistant,  Eastman,  Ga. 

R.  L.  Paine,  County  School  Commissioner  of  Walton  County,  Social 
Circle,  Ga. 

Thomas  W.  Palmer,  President  Alabama  Girls'  Industrial  School,  Mont- 
evallo,  Ala. 

Mrs.  R.  E.  Park,  Atlanta,  Ga. 

Robert  E.  Park,  State  Treasurer  of  Georgia.  Atlanta,  Ga. 

L.  M.  Park,  Atlanta,  Ga. 

M.  M.  Parkst  President  Georgia  Normal  and  Industrial  College,  Mil- 
ledgeville,  Ga. 

Henry  Griscom  Parsons,  Secretary  International  Children's  School 
Farm  League,  New  York  City. 

C.  S.  Parrish,  Professor  of  Psychology  and  Pedagogy;  President  of 
Virginia  Congress  of  Mothers,  Atlanta,  Ga. 

Andrew  H.  Patterson,  Professor  of  Physics  University  of  North  Car- 
olina, Chapel  Hill,  N.  C. 

Bruce  R.  Payne,  Professor  of  Secondary  Education,  University,  Va. 

Miss   Katherine   L.   Peck,   teacher,   Atlanta,   Ga. 

H.  M.  Penniman,  Professor  of  Christian  Evidences  Berea  College, 
Berea,  Ky. 

Mrs.  Nichols  Peterson,  ex-teacher,  Tifton,  Ga. 

George  P.  Phenix,  Vice  Principal  Hampton  Institute,  Hampton,   Va. 

Mrs.  George  P.  Phenix,  Hampton,  Va. 

Mrs.  J.  E.   Phillips,  teacher,  Covington,  Ga. 

J.  H.  Phillips,   Superintendent  Schools,   Birmingham,   Ala. 

Gilford  Pinchot,  office  of  the  Forester,  Washington,  D.  C. 

Charles  F.  Alise,  Dean  St.  Philip's  Cathedral,  Atlanta,  Ga. 

Miss  Lillian  Pittman,  College  Park,  Ga. 

Clarence  H.  Poe,  editor  Progressive  Farmer,  Raleigh,  N.  C. 

Edwin  McNeil  Poteat,  President  Furman  University,  Greenville,  S.  C. 

Wm.  Louis  Poteat,  President  Wake  Forest  College,  Wake  Forest,  N.  C. 

Jere  N.  Pound,  commissioner,  Atlanta.  Ga. 

R.  H.  Powell,  Jr.,  Professor  of  English,  Mi.lledgeville,  Ga. 

James  K.  Powers,  representative  B.  F.  Johnson  Publishing  Company, 
Richmond,  Va.,  Florence,  Ala. 

J.  N.  Powers,  State  Superintendent  Education.  Jackson,  Miss. 


REGISTERED  MEMBERS.  231 

Henry  S.  Pritchett,  President  Carnegie  Foundation,  New  York. 

J.  M.  Purdom.  President  Board  Education  Pierce  County.  Georgia, 
Blackshear,  Ga. 

John  M.   Purdom,  Jr.,   Blackshear,  Ga. 

George  J.  Ramsey,  Professor  Education  Central  University  of  Ken- 
tucky, Danville,  Ky. 

Bessie  Ray,  Atlanta,  Ga. 

John  E.  Ray,  Prin.  State  School  for  Blind  and  Deaf,  Raleigh,  N.  C. 

H.  E.  Reynolds,  Chairman  Committee  on  Education  Alabama  Senate, 
Centreville.  Ala. 

Mrs.  H.  E.  Reynolds,  looker  on  at  the  Conference,  Centreville,  Ala. 

Caroline  Frances  Richardson,  instructor  Newcomb  College,  Xewcomb 
College,  N.  C. 

G.  Ben  Ridley,  County  School  Commissioner,  Zebulon.  Ga. 

Miss  Greda  S.  Rietman,  teacher,  Nashville,  Tenn. 

Sallie  Rigdon,  normal  student,  Statesboro,  Ga. 

A.  J.  Ritchie,  founder  Rabun  Gap   Industrial   School,  Rabun  Gap,  Ga. 

Olive  Roberts,  teacher  of  Domestic  Science,  Milledgeville.  Ga. 

L.  B.  Robeson,  member  Board  Education,  Marietta.  Ga. 

Mrs.  Lucy  H.  Robertson,  President  Greensboro  Female  College,  Greens- 
boro, N.  C. 

T.  H.  Robertson,  Superintendent  of  City  Schools,  Gainesville,  Ga. 

Lottie  J.  Robinson,  Principal  Normal  and  Collegiate  Institute,  Ashe- 
ville,  N.  C. 

Mrs.  Tudie  S.  Robison,  teacher,  Oxford,  Ga. 

Miss  Helen  Roddey,  Assistant  Principal.  Atlanta,  Ga. 

John  N.  Rogers,  Superintendent  Tenth  District  Agricultural  School, 
Granite  Hill,  Ga. 

Wic-kliffe  Rose,  Nashville,  Tenn. 

Mrs.  Wickliffe  Rose,  Nashville,  Tenn. 

Mrs.  James  P.  Rounsaville,  Rome,  Ga. 

R.  W.  D.  Rowell,  County  Superintendent  Education,  Bamberg,  S.  C. 

George  D.  Rucker,  County  School  Superintendent,  Alpharetta,  Ga. 

Lillian  Rule,  teacher,   Milledgeville,   Ga. 

Garnett  Ryland,  Professor  Georgetown  College,  Georgetown,  Ky. 

E.  C.  Sage,  Office  Secretary  General  Educational  Board,  New  York  City. 

Nathaniel  Moss  Salley,  Superintendent  Schools,  Greenwood,  S.  C. 

H.  E.  Savely,  Asst.  Farmers'  Demonstration  Work,  Washington,  D.  C. 

Fannie  May  Schell,  normal  student,  East  Point,  Ga. 

Mrs.  Henry  Lane  Schmitz,  President  Hampton  Educational  Associa- 
tion, Hampton,  Va. 

Henry  L.  Schmitz,  banker,  Hampton,  Va. 

Marie  Scott,  normal  student,  Milledgeville,  Ga. 

Alfred  E.  Seddon,  minister  Christian  Church,  Atlanta,  Ga. 

J.  F.  Sellers,  Professor  of  Chemistry  Mercer  University,  Macon,  Ga. 


232  CONFERENCE  FOR   EDUCATION. 

S.  Preston  Settle,  Superintendent,  Alma,  Ga. 

D.  W.  Simmons,  Clerk  Superior  Court,  Rome,  Ga. 

Miss  Sheak,  Demorest,  Ga. 

Miss  M.  B.  Sheidley,  Rome,  Ga. 

Charles  B.  Shelton,  lawyer,  Atlanta,  Ga. 

Edwin  C.  Silsby,  Professor  of  Civics  and  Economics  Talla  College,  Tal- 
ladega,  Ala. 

St.  George  L.  Sionssat,  Acting  Dean  College  University  of  the  South, 
Sewanee,  Tenn. 

James  Henry  Simmons,  Professor  of  English  Language  and  Literature 
Shorter  College,  Rome,  Ga. 

Dr.  T.  J.  Simmons,  President  Shorter  College,  Rome,  Ga. 

Mrs.  C.  J.  Simmons,  Atlanta,  Ga. 

Miss  Annie  Skinner,  teacher,  Keysville,  Ga. 

Miss  Kate  Slade,  Assistant  Principal,  Sandersville,  Ga. 

William  Martin   Slaton,   Superintendent,  Atlanta,   Ga. 

A.  Slaughter,  Menomonie,  Wis. 

Amanda  Stoltzfus,  teacher  mathematics,  Knoxville,  Tenn. 

Euler  B.  Smith,  Dean  State  Normal  School,  Athens,  Ga. 

W,  B.  Smith,  President  Trustees  Gordon  Institute,  Barnesville,  Ga. 

Mrs.  Gessner  T.  Smith,  Professor  of  Modern  Languages,  Industrial  In- 
stitute, Columbus,  Miss. 

W.  H.  Smith,  County  Superintendent  Education,  Durant,  Miss. 

S.  J.  Smith,  Superintendent  of  Schools,  Fitzgerald^  Ga. 

W.  R.  Smith,  County  Superintendent  of  Schools,  Tifton,  Ga. 

I.  S.  Smith,  County  Superintendent,  Reedsville,  Ga. 

Miss  Lillian  S.  Smith,  Professor  of  Latin  Agness  Scott  College,  De- 
catur,  Ga. 

E.  Albert  Smith,  Professor  Gordon  Institute,  Barnesville,  Ga. 
Governor  Hoke  Smith,  Atlanta,  Ga. 

Kate  B.  Snipes,  teacher,  Eatonton,  Ga. 

W.  R.  Snyder,  Instructor  in  Wood  Work  Boys'  High  School,  Atlanta,  Ga. 

F.  O.  Spain,  D.  C.  Heath  &  Co.,  publishers,  Atlanta,  Ga. 
Gladys  Speir,  normal  student,  Wadley,  Ga. 

Miss  Mary   C.   Spencer,   Professor   of   Mathematics   Newcomb   College, 

New  Orleans,  La. 

W.   L.   Stall  ings,  ex-teacher-farmer,   Kingston,   Ga. 
Miss  Clara  M.  Standish,  teacher  in  Lincoln  Academy,  Kings  Mountain, 

N.  C. 

E.   T.   Steed,  Superintendent,  Villa  Rica,   Ga. 
C.  W.  Stead,  Professor  of  English  Mercer  University,  Macon,  Ga. 
Merle  M.  Stephens,  Director  of  Domestic  Art,  Monlevallo,  Ala. 
Irene  Stevens,  normal  student,  Jefferson,  Ga. 
Miss  Alice  Stevens,  Columbus,  Miss. 
Mrs.  Jos.  S.  Stewart,  Athens,  Ga. 


REGISTERED  MKMMERS.  233 

Joseph  S.  Stewart,  Professor  of  Secondary  Education  University  of 
Georgia.  Athens,  Ga. 

Mrs.  H.  E.   Stockbriclge.  Atlanta,  Ga. 

H.  H.  Stone,  Chair  Applied  Mathematics  Emory  College,  Oxford,   Ga. 

Wm.  B.  Streeter,  Superintendent  of  Children's  Home  Society  for  the 
Carolinas,  Greensboro,  N.  C. 

R.  L.  Strickland,  Bolton,  Ga. 

Edward  A.  Sutherland,  teacher:  President  of  the  Nashville  Agricul- 
tural and  Normal  Institute,  Madison,  Tenn. 

J.  E.  Swearingen,  Superintendent  of  State  Education,  Columbia,  S.  C. 

Mrs.  Brower  Swearingen,  delegate  from  N.  D.  C.,  Elberton,  Ga. 

Miss  M.  L.  Tame,  artist,  Atlanta.  Ga. 

W.  K.  Tate,  Assistant  Superintendent  Schools,  Charleston,  S.  C. 

Miss  Ella  Lou  Terry,  grade  teacher,  Columbus.  Miss. 

Charles  C.  Thach,  President  Alabama  Polytechnic,  Auburn,  Ala. 

Mrs.  E.  D.  Themes,  Chairman  Committee  on  Schools,  Greenville,  Ala. 

Jas.  S.  Thomas,  supervisor  of  rural  schools  for  Virginia,  Richmond,  Va. 

C.  J.  Thompson,  pastor,  Atlanta.  Ga. 

Edward  Thomson,  L.L.  D.,  President  Arlington  Heights  College,  Fort 
Worth.  Texas. 

Miss  Charlotte  R.  Thorn,  Principal  Calhoun  School,  Calhoun,  Ala. 

B.  W.  Torreyson/ Professor  of  Secondary  Education.  Little  Rock,  Ark. 

E.  E.  Treadwell,  Superintendent  Public  Schools,  Decatur,  Ga. 

Bertha  E.  Trehein,  Prof,  of  German  Agnes  Scott  College,  Decatur,  Ga. 

Prof.  G.  H.  Trever,  Prof,  of  Exegesis  Garrison  Seminary,  Atlanta,  Ga. 

A.  C.  True,  Director  Office  of  Experiment  Stations,  Department  of  Ag- 
riculture. Washington,  D.  C. 

Miss  Julia  S.  Tutwiler,  President  Alabama  Normal  College,  Living- 
ston, Ala. 

Miss  Mary  Louise  Tuttle,  Dean,  Women,  Director  Home  EC.  Dept.  Uni- 
versity  Tennessee,  Knoxville,  Tenn. 

J.  S.  Turner,  County  School  Commissioner,  Dallas,  Ga. 

T.  R.  Tredway,  banker,  Haddock,  Ga. 

A.  H.  Uler,  newspaperman,  representing  Mat-on  Telegraph,  Aug  sta 
Chronicle,  Savannah  Press  and  Athens  Banner,  Atlanta,  Ga. 

R.  L.  Van  Deman,  Theological  Teacher  Atlanta  Baptist  College,  Indian- 
apolis, Ind. 

President  C.  R.  Van  Hise,  University  of  Wisconsin,  Madison,  Wis. 

John  B.  Vanmeter,  Dean  Woman's  College  of  Baltimore.  Baltimore,  Md. 

R.  T.  Vann,  President  Baptist  University  for  Women,  Raleigh,  N.  C. 

Francis  P.  Venable,  President  University  N,  Carolina,  Chapel  Hill.  X.  C. 

J.  W.  Walden,  President  of  Palmer  College,  De  Funiak  Springs,  Fla. 

Mrs.   Henrietta  Briggs-Wall.   Hutchinson,  Kans. 

E.  E.  Walker,  representing  Interstate  School,  Chicago,  111. 

S.  W.  Walker,  Professor  of  Secondary  Education  in  the  University  of 


L':;4  (  'o.XKKUKNVK     FOR     KlM'CATlON. 

North   Carolina,   Chapel    Hill,   N.   C. 

J.  Henry  Walker,  Superintendent  Public  Schools,  Griffin,  Ga. 

Mrs.  Charles  Walker.   Atlanta,   Ga. 

I.  S.  Wampler,  assistant  in  Math.  Peabody  College,  Nashville,  Tenn. 

Patterson  Wardlaw,  Professor  of  Pedagogy  University  of  South  Caro- 
lina, Columbia,  S.  C. 

J.  C.  Wardlaw,  Professor  of  Pedagogy,  Milledgeville,  Ga. 

A.  C.  Ward,  D.  D.,  minister  and  teacher,  Atlanta,  Ga. 

Rev.  Dr.  A.  G.  Wardlaw,  minister,  Union,  S.  C. 

E.  Warren,  County  School  Commissioner,  Swamsboro,  Ga. 
Lott  Warren,  real  estate  dealer,  Atlanta,  Ga. 

Miss  Croyzette  Watkins,  teacher  of  mathematics  Cox  College,  College 

Park,  Ala. 

Warren  G.  Waterman,  Professor  Fisk  University,  Nashville,  Tenn. 
George  A.  Wauchope,  Professor  English   University  of  South  Carolina, 

Columbia,   S.   C. 
Mrs.  Charles  P.  Weaver,  rep.  school  improvement  work  of  Kentucky, 

Louisville,  Ky. 

F.  G.  Webb,  citizen,  College  Park,  Ala. 

Dr.  S.  E.  Weber,  Inspector  of  High  Schools,  Baton  Rouge,  La. 

G.  W.  Wells,  minister,  Atlanta,  Ga. 
Mrs.  S.  E.  Weber,  Baton  Rouge,  La. 
Mrs.  W.  L.  Wheless,  Atlanta,  Ga. 

George  White,  Jr.,  merchant,   Sparta,  Ga.  ( 

H.  L.  Whitfield,  Pres.  Industrial  Institute  and  College,  Columbus,  Miss. 

Josiah  Dwight  Whitney,  editor  on  New  York  Evening  Post,  Haworth, 

N.  J. 

Miss  Addie  Wilkinson,  Valdosta,  Ga. 

G.  A.  Williams,  manager  Atlanta  Sanitarium,  Atlanta,  Ga. 
Mrs.   G.   A.  Williams,   Atlanta,   Ga. 
John  T.  Williams,  Chairman  Board  Trustees  Sixth  Dist.  A.  &  M.  School, 

Haddock,  Ga. 

T.  E.  Williams,  Moultrie,  Ga. 

Miss  Frankie  Williams,  First  Asst.  Rockville  Academy,  Eatonton,  Ga. 
Mrs.  H.  L.  Wilson,  Atlanta,   Ga. 
Mrs.  William  Potter  Wilson,  Rosemont,  Pa. 

Alfred  U.  Wood,  President  Board  of  Education,  Brunswick,  Ga. 
Wade  H.  Wood,  County  Superintendent  Schools,  Sandersville,  Ga. 
Thomas    J.    Woofter,    Professor   of    Education    University    of    Georgia, 

Athens,  Ga. 

Nannie  N.  Worsham,  normal   student,  Yatesville,  Ga. 
Emma  Worsham,  normal  student,  Yatesville,  Ga. 
H.  L.  Worsham,  teacher,  Jeffersonville,  Ga. 
\V.  C.  Wiight,  County  School  Commissioner,  Eatonton,  Ga. 
Mrs.  J.  B.  Wright,  Cairo,  Ga. 


REGISTERED  MEMBERS.  235 

J.    B.    Wight,    County    School    Commissioner    Grady    County,    Georgia, 

Cairo,  Ga. 

Mrs.  Helen  S.  Wright,  teacher  of  piano,  College  Park,  Ga. 
Arthur  Yager,  President  Georgetown  College,  Georgetown,  Ky. 
Walter  J.  Yates,  Professor  Systematic  Theology,  Grammar,  Theological 

Seminary,  South  Atlanta,  Ga. 
B.  M.  Zettler,  representing  So.  Cor.  College,  Atlanta,  Ga. 


LIBRARY 


II  111  UN  Ill"  111"  I*MI  '""  IBUI 

A     000  602  025     9 


